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Millsaps Celebrates 6th MultiCultural
Festival
A poetry contest, an art display by children at the CARES Center, a
Chinese sword dance, and step and martial arts exhibitions were among the
many activities highlighting Millsaps College’s sixth annual MultiCultural
Festival. This year’s event, "Cultural Escapades," took place November
30 to December 4. The annual festival provides students, faculty, and staff
an excellent opportunity to highlight and discuss the diversity represented
in the campus community.
The central message of this year’s festival was one of friendship,
diversity, and community.
It is a fun, festive occasion, but also has a much
deeper significance," explains Sherryl Wilburn, Director of MultiCultural
Affairs, who works with students to organize the festival. "It gives us
a chance to open up our worlds. By recognizing the importance of diversity,
we learn more about other cultures and even realize new things about ourselves."
As part of the festival, Gwen Magee, an artist
and poet who lives in Jackson, read from her poetry and showed a sampling
of her celebrated contemporary African-American quilts, which were recently
featured in "Spirit of the Cloth."
Other exciting events included concerts and
the traditional fashion show. Los Calientes Del Son, a 13-piece Latin orchestra
from Baton Rouge, played their sizzling mix of traditional and modern salsa
outside the Millsaps Student Center. The MultiCultural fashion show, titled
"Fashion Escapades," was also a big hit. It featured clothing from China,
Japan, Nigeria, the Philippines and other areas, as well as diverse styles
from the United States.
"The fashion show gives us a way to express ourselves
and recognize other cultures around us," says Mark Chandler, a Millsaps
student who dressed as a cowboy to celebrate his own Southern heritage.
"It is all about learning
to enjoy different cultures and encouraging others to share in that
experience."
Wilburn stresses that all students are invited
to participate in the festival, regardless of their cultural backgrounds.
"Multicultural means everybody. We are all in this together. The purpose
of this festival is to help people understand that, and to open up their
worlds so they can recognize the diversity of those around them."
Millsaps is also planning a "Diversity 2000"
conference this spring to further celebrate and explore diversity issues.
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