McLean High School’s annual Multicultural Night has been cancelled this year due to inclement weather adversely affecting planning preparations for the event.
Organized by the ICU (International Cultures United) club, Multicultural Night is carried out by committees for each part of the event. Officers coordinate with performers, technicians, as well as other students to make the event possible. This year, consequences due to weather and snow days, conflicted with rescheduling issues.
“Many officers, members, and students including students that no longer attend MHS greatly lament the cancellation of Multicultural Night,” ICU club’s publicity officer Manfred Veizaga said. “Many MHS alumni and former ICU members were planning on attending Multicultural Night which is very upsetting because we wanted them to come.”
Aside from making such prominent events happen, the ICU club uses the opportunity to spread a message of reaching out to the community through gatherings such as Multicultural Night and others.
“The ICU Club has a special meaning to me because this is where I truly felt comfortable in McLean High School. Having a Bolivian background and having grown up in the U.S. I have always enjoyed meeting people from different countries and backgrounds,” Veizaga said. “Being part of the ICU club has allowed me to expand my knowledge of other countries such as Nepal and Burma by interacting with students whom are from there. It has also allowed me to make many new friends, which is a big part of the ICU club experience.”
The club’s committees are divided up to the fashion show and banquet, as well as talent show within the event, showcasing student performers, models, and also a wide diversity of international foods. The fashion show exhibits the various fashions of an abundant array of different countries, featuring models made up of many McLean High School students or others of the community who with proudly display their heritage to the community by wearing attire from their origin country or parent’s country. The performance segment of the night showcases students from McLean High School or professionals from the area who exhibit their cultures via performance in a variety ways such as singing songs, dancing to a traditional tune, or playing a cultural instrument.
“The goal of Multicultural Night is to display the diversity that exists in the community and to expose people to this wonderful diversity. We now live in a globalized world with a globalized economy; it only makes sense to get people interested in exploring different cultures,” Veizaga said. “Above all, Multicultural Night is a fun night with delicious food where the aim is to simply make people aware of the diversity in the community.”
