2008 Woodie Awards
Festival honors diversity
Jesse Batson
Issue date: 4/12/05 Section: Front Page News
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Jean Michel Bassquin, Festival of Cultures coordinator, described the event as a show of the diversity of the cultures, not just at SDSU, but also in the state of South Dakota.
Twenty-six different cultures were represented at the festival through a combination of merchandise booths, musical performances and ethnic foods.
The event gave on-campus groups and organizations the chance to get involved and profit from their participation.
Marie High Bear, president of the Native American club, set up a booth selling nachos and pop. There was also a location for donations set up on the main floor of the HPER center.
"This is actually my first year participating, but I have been here the past two years," High Bear said. "I like it because there's a lot of cultures. I like it because there's a variety."
On the main floor, Diane Rickerl, coordinator of multiculturalism for the AgBio College, had a booth set up for her International Experience course that she teaches each spring.
"We have a booth here because each year we take a group of students to a different country, so we want students to know about that opportunity," Rickerl said.
During the course's six-year run, they have traveled to Bolivia, New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Africa and Jamaica.
"We try to have a plan about a year ahead of time and I coordinate the academic part of the class, but individual teachers come to me and say, 'I'd really like to plan a trip to Jamaica,' " Rickerl said. "So, they plan the trip and I coordinate the class."
With a trip planned for India next year, the class will see a tiger preserve and the Taj Mahal.
"There are three areas we look at in the course: We look at cultural diversity, we look at food systems and then we look at environmental issues, so we try to line up different sites related to those," Rickerl said.
Community members also attended the festival. SDSU graduate Dave Huebner was working a pottery booth.