The annual Unity Fest, a week of cultural exposure put on by the Cultural Inclusion Council (CIC), will be starting at the end of the month after being canceled last year because of COVID-19.
“Our goal with it is not just celebrating differences. It’s interesting, because yes we have differences, but I almost feel like that’s what brings us together is being able to experience other people’s culture, and being able to have hard conversations,” Coordinator of Inclusivity and Student Mentor Specialists Ta’Lor Jackson said. “Things that, you know, ultimately just make the campus environment a better place.”
The Unity Fest, otherwise known as Unity Week, starts on March 29, and continues throughout the week, ending on Saturday.
Each of the alliances that make up the CIC will be participating, including the Native American Student Alliance (NASA), which has been previously inactive. Being brought back to activity by student and leader Jacey Tsosie, NASA will be back as a part of the fest for the first time in a few years.
“Each alliance is taking a day, and really we kind of give free reign on what [they want] – do they want to celebrate, to educate like whatever direction they want to go with it,” Jackson said.
The Unity Fest didn’t take place last spring because the campus shut down for the semester before it was able to take place. Now, they’re hoping for a safe and successful week.
“We think about COVID first, we want to make sure that people are safe, not just our coordinators and members but just everybody on campus,” CIC Director Aaron Reed said.
The Black Student Alliance (BSA) will be bringing speaker Dr. Dwinita Mosby Tyler, Chief Catalyst and Founder of The Equity Project, based in Denver. Mosby Tyler has been to CMU before.
“She’s taught us about what inclusivity is in the context of a school, and why diversity would be the wrong word for our group,” BSA leader Mahlet Mamo said. “Just because we’re promoting more inclusivity, and the ability to include all people.”
This idea behind diversity versus inclusion was part of the reason why the CIC changed their name, as they used to be known as the Cultural Diversity Board.
“Diversity would be just the ability to come together,” Mamo said. “You could be the same race and same gender, but come from completely different lifestyles, and that would have a diverse perspective on whatever you’re working on, whereas inclusive would be the ability to include any kind of person promoting cultures and including different kinds of backgrounds.”
The Unity Fest comes at a time when COVID-19 fatigue is just as high as ever.
“I mean a big part of going to college is the college experience, and when you’re limited to online learning, you’re not necessarily getting that, so we want to try to have opportunities for people to socialize and be educated and celebrate and kind of tie that all into one,” Jackson said.
The fest will see each organization put something on. The newly revived NASA will be doing traditional Navajo games, while the Latino Student Alliance will be educating about Mexican-American labor leader Cesar Chavez. The Genders and Sexualities Alliance will also be holding drag queen bingo, partly as a result of not being able to hold their normal drag show because of COVID restrictions.
The Unity Fest will cap with the 20th annual Lu’au by the HPA, which features traditional Polynesian dances and music.
“Basically, we’re trying to showcase dances and different traditions we have back home, to preserve our fading culture,” HPA president Cy Shimamura said.
It’ll feature around a dozen dancers doing traditional Hawaiian dances and finish the Unity Fest for the semester.
