The 14th annual Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month at Georgetown began last Friday with a new education-focused Halloween event and will include a Vietnamese Language Dinner, a first ever Langar Night and other programming throughout November.

The Asian American Hub for Organizing, Movement and Empowerment, a residential space for Asian American students on campus founded this year, held the first program of API Heritage Month on Nov. 1 with a trick-or-treat event in collaboration with the Womxn in the Arts Magis Row house. Asian American HOME members distributed candy and Halloween o’grams highlighting issues involving immigration, socioeconomic status and health education, according to Asian American HOME resident and Asian-Pacific Islander Leadership Forum member Heejin Hahn (COL ’20).

Through Halloween o’grams focusing on areas of concern within Asian communities, attendees were able to observe the diverse issues that these communities face, Hahn wrote.

“These were some that I picked to remind people of how intersectional Asian American identity is and how our movement is multi-issue and multi faceted,” Hahn wrote in an email to The Hoya. “At the Asian American house, we try to be as intersectional as we can to address people and identities who are pushed to the margins of our own communities.”

The Sikh Student Association, which was founded last year, will also be hosting their first ever Langar Night on Nov. 13. Langar Night will celebrate the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, and his practice of Langar with free vegetarian food served to all visitors regardless of religion, caste or gender, according to SSA President Rimpal Bajwa (SFS ’22).

This year will be the first time the Asian American Student Association will host its annual Fall Ball and Asian Diversity Dialogue Conference in the same weekend to increase traction and awareness, according to AASA Co-President Julia Lo (MSB ’21). Event attendees will have the opportunity to learn about diversity within Asian communities and how these individuals exist beyond common stereotypes, Lo wrote.

“I hope students, through attending these events, realize that API culture is not monolithic,” Lo wrote in an email to The Hoya. “I hope the various conferences and showcases allow our peers to experience our culture past the stereotypes and mainstream ideals.”

Although API Heritage Month at Georgetown takes place in November, the celebration occurs nationally in May. The university decided to celebrate API Heritage Month in November due to the student body being out of session for most of May, according to Hahn.

Celebrating API Heritage Month in November presents a problem in its dislocation of National Native American Heritage Month at Georgetown during its traditional timing, Hahn wrote.

“Of course, APILF is not exactly thrilled that the president’s office declared API heritage month to be in November which is actually the national Native American heritage month in the US,” Hahn wrote in an email to The Hoya. “We do not mean to displace other students’ heritage months just because we cannot hold ours in May in accordance with the National calendar.”

Other events for this year’s celebration include a new Vietnamese iced coffee fundraiser hosted by the Vietnamese Student Association on Nov. 6 to raise money for Blue Dragon, an organization that fights to end human trafficking in Vietnam, according to VSA Director of Public Relations Megan Huynh (NHS ’22). The group will also host a Vietnamese Language Dinner on Nov. 15, where students can eat traditional Vietnamese food while learning Vietnamese vocabulary.

Additional programming for API Heritage Month includes Club Filipino’s Barrio Fiesta on Nov. 9 and AASA’s Asian Diversity Dialogue Conference on Nov. 10.

Rangila, South Asian Society’s annual dance showcase, will be one of the closing events of API Heritage Month on Nov. 22 and 23. Rangila, which is the largest student-run dance showcase at Georgetown, represents how Georgetown can support South Asian communities, according to SAS President Saumya Shruti (COL ’20).

“Although Georgetown is a predominantly white institution (PWI), I have always seen Georgetown through the lens of diversity,” Shruti wrote in an email to The Hoya. “To have the largest student run showcase be that of South Asian culture and one that is dedicated to supporting South Asian communities both in Georgetown and also in South Asia through its philanthropy efforts is a sight no where else to be found.”