Two major events — a comedy show with Asian comedian Dat Phan and the annual Barrio Fiesta — drew hundreds of students to the Susquehanna Room on Friday, and the East Gym on Saturday, to celebrate Asian empowerment week.
The two shows were part of a series of events that Binghamton University’s Asian student groups organized to kick off Asian history month, which is celebrated in April by BU.
The Asian Student Union (ASU) hosted a majority of these events and sponsored the comedy show with returning comedian Dat Phan.
“He was a big success last year,” said Man Fung Wong, president of ASU. “We had to turn a lot of people away, so we thought it would be great to bring him back for people who missed him.”
Wong added that the turnout this year was significantly lower, but that the comic and attending students enjoyed themselves.
“Last year the Susquehanna room was packed and a lot of people were standing,” Wong said. “This time most people were sitting, but it went great.”
Barrio Fiesta was more popular among students this year. More than 600 students and Philippine associations from SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Albany, SUNY Stony Brook and Cornell showed up for the festival that celebrates Filipino traditions and modern culture, annually organized by BU’s Philippine American League (PAL).
“Barrio Fiesta creates a sense of community among students,” said John Pingol, president of PAL. “It provides a chance for Philippine-Americans to express their culture.”
During the festival, members of PAL presented skits and preformed traditional and modern Filipino dances.
“We hold the event, choreograph it and participate in it,” Pingol said. “All the students that performed were under PAL and had to undergo practices and auditions.”
Liz Anistranski, an attendee and senior linguistics and Asian American studies major, said that the dances were particularly good.
“You don’t really see traditional dances and costumes,” she said. “It was different, very interesting.”
During the intermission and at the beginning of the event, PAL sold traditional Filipino food. Hopia, which is a mung bean pastry, namon cakes and mango juice are a few of the dishes that students could buy.
“I got the hopia,” Anistranki said. “They were really good.”
PAL also invited Rondella, a music troupe that plays traditional Filipino music on string instruments, to perform during the event.
The tickets for Barrio Fiesta cost $10 in advance and $12 at the door. More than a quarter of the proceeds were donated to Red Cross in the Philippines, which was recently devastated by a mudslide.
Overall, the students agreed that the festival was a success.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Melissa Chan, chief editor of Asian Outlook. “Barrio was a cap of Asian empowerment week.”
Some of the other activities that ASU organized included a lesson on the mah jong card game, a lion dance workshop, screenings of Chinese movies and forums with guest speakers on issues that concern the Asian community.
The Asian empowerment week, which Wong called a celebration of Asian identity and an effort to educate non-Asian students about Asian culture, concluded on Sunday.
“We wanted to show people that there are different aspects to Asian culture and celebrate them,” he said.