By Faith Miletello | Reporter
The Asian Student Association honored Chinese tradition by hosting its annual Lunar New Year event on Friday.
“It’s a festival for Chinese New Year. We have tables with games and cultural stuff relating to the Chinese New Year,” Huntington Beach, Calif., sophomore Thomas Kalatschin said. “We have performances and prizes. It’s just a great celebration.”
Lunar New Year is the Chinese celebration of the first new moon of the year, the official date was January 28. This Lunar New Year starts the Year of the Rooster; according to Time Magazine, the animal signifies what personality traits those born during the year will have. Chinese astrologers also determine what the year will bring for people’s luck, romance and decisions based on the animal sign. Dallas junior Duc Nguyen, Asian Student Association president, said it is important that the group brings the highlights of Asian culture to the Baylor campus.
Lunar New Year hosted Asian line dancers, free Asian food and game booths from other clubs, including the Vietnamese Student Association and the Japanese Student Association.
“The events we host are a showcase of who we are. Where, on the Baylor campus, we are not very prominent,” Nguyen said.
The Asian Student Association hosts Asia Fest in the fall semester and Lunar New Year in the spring semester. The group is a social and service club that strives to highlight the importance of the members’ Asian heritage.
Houston junior Annie Jin emphasized the leadership skills she has acquired from holding an officer position in the group for the last two years. Other members said they feel the group is a way to re-connect with lost Asian roots.
“In high school I felt I lost a lot of who I was as an Asian, and as a Vietnamese person,” Nguyen said. “Going into college I felt like I needed to get that back. I joined [Asian Student Association] to find people with a similar culture, and now, here I am as president.”
Those who attended Lunar New Year got to experience a part of Asian and Chinese culture while getting to see what the Asian Student Association has to offer on campus.
“Lunar New Year is awesome because there is free food,” Jin said, “and it is a way for us to partner with the other Asian organizations on campus.”
