ENO SULE /THE CREIGHTONIAN

Creighton University’s International Student Association (ISA) hosts its annual Cultural Night, a gathering in Harper Ballroom to commemorate the various cultures represented on campus.

Creighton’s International Student Association (ISA) hosted its annual Cultural Night, where attendees were treated to a night of cultural enrichment, engaging performances, delicious cuisine and new connections. 

 For the event held on Nov. 8, participants were asked to don cultural clothing and come ready to share things unique to their culture. ISA served dishes such as falafel, biryani, spring rolls, hummus, pita, mango lassi and miniature cheeseburgers. 

Students from the ISA club helped to plan and set up the event, including College of Arts and Sciences senior Mercedes Garcia Perez, an exchange student from Spain. 

“I’m an international student. I’m an exchange student from Spain for the whole year, so I helped set the tables and the decor, doing all the flowers and putting all the flags,” Perez said. 

 The event featured performances by two of Creighton’s acapella groups, the Crescendas and the Creightones.  

 Emmanuel Fuentes, a College of Arts and Sciences senior and member of the Creightones, said his favorite part of the event was “the exchange of different cultures and seeing everyone’s talents.” 

Swing dance and salsa performances were also a highlight of the night for Hayden Eldridge, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore who was a member of the swing dancing group. 

“Swing dancing actually comes from Mexico … and when it came to the West is when it kind of started looking like this,” Eldridge said. 

Benjamin Dotterer, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, also enjoyed learning the dances. 

“I’ve learned over the last two years there are so many different dances; so many different styles,” Dotterer said. “From learning two-step to triple, to West Coast swing to country swing, it’s all different.”  

Creighton is a home-away-from-home for students from all over the world, including but not limited to Vietnam, Spain, France, Belgium, Nigeria, China and India. Cultural Night was an experience geared toward celebrating international students and enriching the Creighton community with their unique cultures.