About 300 students participated in the first ever Multicultural Week, which celebrated the diversity of cultures on campus and ran Jan. 27 to Feb. 1.

The week was hosted by the Georgetown University Student Association Multicultural Council, and in addition to the student organizations that sponsored the individual events, the Council collaborated with Corp Philanthropy, Interhall Council, the Georgetown University Student Association Fund and the Office of Campus Ministry to put the week together.

“Our goal is to expand and enhance the experience for Georgetown students in regards to multiculturalism,” Multicultural Council member Jackson Shain (COL ’18) said of the organization as a whole. “We’re trying to advocate for student groups on campus that are underserved culture groups and improve the funding structure that exists right now for minority status groups. We’re very much population-based, which isn’t very conducive for the cultural groups on campus that may have smaller populations.”

The idea for a Multicultural Week came about after the success earlier in the year of the World’s Fair, which was put on by the Multicultural Council and Welcome Week and brought multiple cultural groups together on campus. The fair only lasted a day, however, and the council wanted to find a way to replicate the event in a prolonged format, according to Multicultural Council Chair Eng Gin Moe (SFS ’16).

Overall Moe said that the week was big success for the council and the Georgetown community as a whole.

“I think Multicultural Week was a great experience in exposing the many aspects of cultural diversity to the greater Georgetown community,” Moe wrote in an email to The Hoya. She added, “[W]e had people come who are not necessarily associated with any of the clubs part of the Week. These participants were able to learn that these organizations not only exist but that they welcome everyone to their events, ideally leading to greater numbers of people who aren’t in those organizations to go to future events of those organizations.”

The week began with an event titled “The Taste of the Mediterranean” sponsored by the Turkish Club and the Hellenic Association that featured free Mediterranean food and live performances.
About 50 to 60 people attended the event in the Healey Family Student Center Social Room, though only about 30 people were expected, according to Hellenic Association President Vasiliki Dimopoulos (COL ’15).

“We don’t really think to reach out to other cultural groups and work together, so the Turkish Association and the Greek Association thought it would be fun to work together,” Dimopoulos said. “We had always kind of talked about it jokingly and then the opportunity was presented.”

The main goal of the event, according to Dimopoulos, was to raise student awareness of the Hellenic Association and the Turkish Club.

The Multicultural Week continued Thursday with a “Minority Health Disabilities Panel,” which focused on the challenges minorities face in the healthcare system. The panel was hosted by the Asian American Student Association and the Native American Student Association and was held in the HFSC Herman Meeting Room.

The Latin American Student Association and the Georgetown University Mexican Student Association sponsored a “Dia de los Reyes” event on Thursday evening in the HFSC Herman Meeting Room. The event featured Mexican hot chocolate, rosca de reyes — a traditional Spanish and Latin American pastry — and music.

The Multicultural Week concluded Sunday with the Multicultural Brunch, which featured food from around the world and photos from the week’s festivities. Multiple singing and dancing groups from around campus performed at the brunch, held in the HFSC Social Room.