To promote networking among students and diverse community members, the Health Professions Division Multicultural Affairs Committee will host the Multicultural Fair on Nov. 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Clocktower Courtyard adjacent to the HPD Terry Building.
The fair is an annual event sponsored by the HPD Multicultural Affairs Committee to bring together diverse student groups and local organizations and vendors. Last year, over 450 students attended.
Jonathon Infante-May, assistant director of Student Affairs at HPD and chair of the Multicultural Fair, is organizing the event. He said this is the first year the event will take place outside, and it will function like a “diversity farmer’s market.”
“The main focus is connecting with the cultural student organizations,” he said. “[The event will include] everything from spiritual groups to ethnic groups to gender-based groups, who are coming together to table and represent their organizations and hopefully recruit new members.”
Infante-May said each of the student groups who signed up will conduct a fun interactive activity at their table. For example, the HPD Gay and Lesbian Medical Association will have gingerbread cookies that attendees can decorate as boys or girls with pink and blue icing.
“There will be activities like that that represent each group’s culture,” Infante-May said. “It’s going to be a really great two hours.”
Along with activities, each participating organization will also share bite-sized tastes of their cultures, giving attendees the chance to sample foods from different parts of the world.
Samantha Rood, second-year physician assistant and master’s in public health student attended last year’s event and said she not only got the chance to eat many different cuisines from around the globe, she also got a chance to mingle with different classes.
“It’s important to bring different backgrounds and cultures together in a stress-free way,” she said. “Food always brings people closer together, and it actually made me interested in learning about different cultures. Allowing the entire school to come together in a single, exciting event seems to reinforce the importance of the NSU community.”
Kevin Verde, second-year physician assistant student and multicultural chair of Physician Assistant Class of 2016, helped to plan last year’s event by promoting the event to his program and organizing his program’s participation.
Verde said this event is a great opportunity to connect with other students at NSU, and it fosters an interdisciplinary culture at NSU. He said the fair is also a fun way to meet other students and taste each other’s cooking.
“It’s a great way to learn a little more about other nationalities and may stir our interest in certain cultural traditions we may not have been aware of,” said Verde. “As healthcare providers, we will be treating people of many cultures, and knowing little facts about any given culture can help initiate a connection with our patients.”
Verde said attendees can look forward to cultural performances, great food and an opportunity to socialize with students from other programs.
“This is one of the Multicultural Affair Committee’s biggest events of the year, and they keep improving it every year,” he said.
This year, students are encouraged to participate in the fair through their organizations.
“In the past, we still had the food from diverse cultures, and we had some games and activities, but this year is a little unique in that we’re really empowering students to get involved with their student groups,” said Infante-May. “This year, we have additional staff and additional resources, and we were able to invite and reach out to well over 100 student organizations.”
Verde said everyone in his class who attended last year greatly enjoyed it.
“It’s fun to try new foods and chat with the ‘chefs’ to learn about the recipe and their culture,” Verde said. “Many people share special family dishes and spend quite some time sharpening their culinary skills.”
For Rood, the best part about the fair was all the food.
“But one of my favorite parts of the fair was seeing everyone’s reaction after they ate vegemite for the first time,” she said.
Groups signed up to attend include Reach Others Through Leadership, Teaching and Education, or ROLTE, which focuses on making a difference in diverse communities, the NSU Counseling Center, which will talk about dealing with culture shock and embracing differences, and the NSU Museum of Art, which will talk about their cultural exhibits for this year.
The Multicultural Fair is open to the NSU community and will feature free food. Vendors will sell their merchandise, such as clothing, jewelry and soaps.
Each attendee will receive a bingo card when they arrive, and if he or she visits at least ten tables and gets signatures, he or she will get the chance to win a $50 Pollo Tropical gift card.
“I think sometimes we forget, because we live in South Florida, just how amazing and diverse NSU is, and I think this event is going to serve as that reminder that ‘Wow, we are a diverse community,’” said Infante-May.
For more information, contact the Multicultural Affairs Committee at mac@nova.edu.
Groups who are tabling include:
Black Student Union, Hillel of Broward and Palm Beach, HPD Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, MEDLIFE, the Society of Anime and Gaming, Christian Pharmacy International, International Student Association, RecWell, NSU Athletics and Sports Medicine, RadioX
Vendors include:
Chartwells, Pizza Loft, Pollo Tropical, Starbucks, Trader Joes, Crystal Vision and Loving Touch Center
