Diverse ISU cultures to be celebrated at Global Gala

ISU Raas [ChakRaas] performs the traditional Indian Raas dance during the Global Gala event on Friday, March 28.

Adam Sodders

Diversity, dance, food and fashion of the many cultures at Iowa State will be celebrated for the 10th annual Global Gala on Friday.

The Global Gala will take place in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. Doors open at 6 p.m. with dinner beginning at 6:30 p.m. The gala is free and open to the public.

“Global [Gala] is an annual event dedicated to honoring numerous cultures from all over the world,” said Victor Theng, multicultural awareness co-director for the ISU Student Union Board. Theng said there would be a focus on song, dance and dress from the various cultures represented by ISU students.

The gala will host an array of multicultural events, presentations and performances. Multicultural clubs and student organizations will present and perform to help celebrate the diverse cultures present at Iowa State.

There will be multiple dance groups and clubs in attendance, including the Motion Sickness Dance Team, Bollywood Dance Club, Celtic Dance Society, Bangladeshi Community of ISU and ISU Bhangra. Cyclone Breakers, Tap Iowa State, Anupam Singh and ISU Raas are also scheduled to perform.

The Global Gala is one of Iowa State’s largest celebrations of diversity. The college hosts many other diversity events as well, including the recent Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity and the upcoming African Night celebration.

There are multiple students at Iowa State who come from different parts of the world. Of the 28,893 undergraduate students at Iowa State during the 2014 fall semester, 3,980 were from outside the U.S., and represented 110 countries.

There are also different races/ethnicities represented at Iowa State, with an estimated 12 percent of students of a different race or ethnicity than white enrolled in the 2014 fall semester.