You may have noticed a lion lurking in Founders Plaza outside of Capen Library Tuesday as UB's international community gathered to celebrate the re-opening of the plaza after a major construction project this summer. Along with free food and local ethnic performances, students gathered along with 20 international groups to promote campus diversity.
The Rochester Shaolin Training Academy started off the event, "Meet the World at the Plaza." They performed a traditional Buddhist blessing called the "lion dance," which is thought to ward off evil spirits and give good luck to the place where it is performed.
According to Ellen Dussourd, the director of International Student and Scholar Services, the dance is over 2,000 years old and was once performed for the Chinese Emperor and other nobility to exorcise demons in palaces.
"It's good to celebrate cultural differences and introduce international students to the UB community," Dussourd said. "We also want to expose students to different areas of foreign study that are available to them."
With more than 20 international groups set up around the edge of the plaza, everyone from the Singapore Student Association to the Study Abroad office came out to show their support for the event.
"We are glad to have the opportunity to show students what kind of options they have for studying abroad," said Melissa Polasik, director of Study Abroad. "Plus being a part of the UB community, it's good to lend our support to the promotion of international groups."
Many students were naturally drawn to the fair with the promise of free hamburgers and hot dogs. However, once there, they enjoyed the many cultural acts that the fair had to offer.
One of these acts was Buffalo's own Latin Jazz Project, who, according to Dussourd, has been around for the past eight years and try to express a wide range of music with the mixture of Latin and Jazz.
This was followed by a salsa performance from the Spanish Student Association and a drumming performance from the Korean Poong Mul, which according to Dussourd is performed by Korean farming villages, each having its own style.
J.J Cutaia, a senior psychology major enjoyed the free lunch and opportunity to get to know the ethnic community at UB.
"I'm here for the free food but to also broaden my perspectives and enjoy the international festivities," Cutaia said.
Ankje Schukken, a senior art history major, also enjoyed the beautiful weather and bands.
"I liked the Rochester Shaolin Training Academy, but I thought the Latino Jazz Project was better," Schukken said. "They just have a much more enjoyable sound."
Each international group was equipped with their own table and brochures ready and eager to provide students with information about the opportunities available to them.
According to Associate Vice Provost for International Education John Wood, "Meet the World at the Plaza" is really about giving students the opportunity to see the different options they have for participating in international studies and groups.
"It's really important to come together on this nice day to bring together international and American students in order to share a common experience," Wood said.
Wood's major concern is that UB separates international and American students too much. He believes that by creating a wide divider between the two groups, it will make it hard for UB to come together as a whole.
"We really feel it's important to be here in order to give international and American students alike the opportunity to see what our group is all about," said Diana Vela, a grad student and member of the Latino Student Association.
Students and faculty both enjoyed the ethnic entertainment, free food and the chance to see different international opportunities available to them through UB.
"We wanted to get students together on this beautiful day, in this newly renovated space," Wood said. "We were just concerned that there weren't enough opportunities of international and American students to get to know each other and wanted to give them the chance to do that."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
