Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Carpe Diem embraces cultural diversity

Monday, December 2, 2019
Guitar Duo Raj Prasai and Jose Andres Miño Lara performing songs in Nepalese and Spanish in the Student Recreation Center, Saturday, Nov. 16.
Photo by Jelani Days

Southeast's annual celebration of cultural diversity, Carpe Diem, was held by Campus Life and Event Services, providing a space for attendees to appreciate and celebrate diversity at the Student Recreation Center on Nov. 16.

"We have 16 cultural booths this year, which is two more than last year. There's six or seven booths that we didn't have last year, so it brings more diversity and it doesn't feel like a repeat for those who came last year," said Tiffany Comfort, coordinator of leadership and involvement and main organizer of the event.

Carpe Diem was created to embrace cultural diversity and to share it with others. The booths are not only about countries, but anything that is related to culture, ethnicity, race and religion. This year The Black Student Union was included among the booths

"We are happy to have a non-international student organization involved at this year's Carpe Diem, and that is the Black Student Union," Comfort said. "It is also cultural, but it is local, it is American."

The attendees had a buffet of different international cuisine to eat, as well as little tastes of countries' food and candy, such as cookies with green tea powder from the Japanese booth or queso with Tostado from the Ecuadorian booth.

The event also had a stage for cultural music and dance performances and a fashion show. Some of the moments that seemed most memorable for attendees were the Japanese dance and singing duet that consisted of student Tabatha Tapia and Academic Advisor José Miño.

"I loved being part of Carpe Diem, especially because I got to represent a little bit of my culture. I know Ecuador is a very small country, but I made sure to go big this time, from the booth to the way I sang," Tapia said. "I made sure everybody understood how important my culture is to me and how I was willing to share it with everybody."

The event originally was originally hosted by the Office of Residence Life in 2010 and was hosted by the office until 2017. In 2018, Campus Life began organizing the event.

Samba Bom, a Brazilian group, had a dance performance near the conclusion of the event.

"Last year we had an African Congo drummer group and this year it's a Brazilian band, so that's different," said Karley Smith, graduate assistant for student involvement and event organizer. "The food and the theme are different, and last year the decorations were more like a street fair."

This year, Campus Life and Event Services were more prepared and had the experience of last year's Carpe Diem. According to the organizers, next year will again be hosted by Campus Life and Event Services and promises to maintain the quality and embrace cultural diversity.

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