International Prom

The International Prom was held on Friday in the Union Ballroom at the University of Oklahoma.

International students at OU got to experience an American prom for the first time.

“We’ve had a lot of internationals express interests that they never got to experience an American prom,” International Advisory Committee President Hillary Medina said.

“This is my first international prom, so I’m really excited,” international student Debaroti Ghosh said.

Students and IAC members danced all night to music native to different parts of the world, and enjoyed a variety of food that was provided by Union Catering.

“It’s so good to see people from all around the world here, you have the Bollywood music playing and Spanish music playing over here and all kinds of music,” Vice President of the India Student Association Subramaniyam Iyer said.

Joe Loveless and Hillary Medina, who is the IAC president, won prom king and queen.

Participants of the International Prom voted for prom king and queen. The DJ announced the winners towards the end of the night.

“I was out her at the booth asking people to vote for me and I’m glad they did,” Loveless said.

“I’m slightly surprised, Medina said. “I thought people would all vote for themselves.”

Everyone cleared the floor as Loveless and Medina shared a dance to “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston.

IAC sold 100 tickets. Participants came in prom attire along with friends or their dates.

“I’m just like so stoked to be here,” IAC Sub-C member said. “It’s just such an amazing thing.”

Dance lessons began at 8:00 p.m., and the prom kicked off at 8:30 p.m.

IAC held their first international prom two years ago, according to Medina.

This year IAC combined their annual winter ball with the international prom, making it one event that serves as a fundraiser and a fun cultural exchange.

The money generated from the International Prom goes towards IAC's Emergency Scholarship, which they award to students every spring, according to the IAC Facebook page.

Tickets were $5 at the IAC booth in the Student Union, and $7 at the door.

Most of the funding for the prom came from the IAC budget. IAC’s yearly budget comes from the Student Government Association.

The IAC is an executive student organization that represents international students, and coordinates the efforts of all international student organizations, according to the IAC website.

“I just love the cultural exchange that goes on,” Medina said.

“I’m having a blast right now, everyone is having a great time,” International Prom attendee Paul Schaettle said.

Diwali Nite '13

An international student organization celebrated Diwali Saturday night.

The India Student Association hosted their annual Diwali Nite at the University of Oklahoma’s Reynolds Performing Arts Center, and later celebrated with food.

“Diwali is a festival of lights,” President of the India Student Association Dhanya Dharma Rajan said. “We use fireworks to celebrate the festival and we use something call diya, which is a lamp.”

            Four hundred people rushed through the doors of the Reynolds Performing Arts Center to see the festival of lights live on stage.

There were nine performances that included acting, dancing, and singing. Awards, prizes, and scholarships were given away, also.

“I was like so excited because this was my first night dancing in Diwali Nite,” performer Amber Hubbard said.

All of the performers wore clothing, danced, and sang songs that are native to different parts of India.

“It’s my personal experience and I enjoyed it very much,” audience member Sadia Afrin said.

After the show, members of ISA, performers, and audience members went the Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center to eat and celebrate.

Gopuram Taste of India Catering Services provided different types of North India food.

 “It’s one of the best restaurants in Oklahoma City, Gopuram,” Vice President of ISA Subramaniyam Iyer said. “So far we always go to them, we know that they can do a good job.”

ISA gave away two scholarships during Diwali Nite to international student members of their organization who are actively engaged with ISA and keeping their grades up.

“We wanted to help and support students who came to the school and did not get assistantship or any sort of financial assistantship or funding from the school,” Rajan said.

 Dr. Rebecca Cruise, from the Department of International Area Studies, was the guest of honor. ISA wanted to honor her for all the things that she’s done for the university.

The audience was very engaged, cheering loudly as they watched each of the performances. There were trivia questions asked to audience members between each performance. Each question was related to facts about India. The winner would receive a prize.

            Towards the end of the show, there were two raffle drawings.  Audience members had a number on the back of their ticket. Two numbers were called, and the winners won a night at the Sooner Legend Hotel.

Ten thousand dollars went into funding Diwali Nite. The University of Oklahoma offered $4,000 as primary funding and the other $6,000 came from different companies and organizations, according to Rajan.

“Since three months we’ve been working on the sponsorship approaching companies, and we’ve been working on the dances since one month,” Rajan said.

            ISA promotes Indian culture and traditions throughout the University of Oklahoma. The ISA accomplishes this through activities and cultural events, according to the ISA website.

International Bazaar

An International Bazaar promoted cultural awareness at the University of Oklahoma on Friday.

International students gathered on OU’s South Oval to share their culture with others.

“It’s just a great event that really gets people aware of the international presence on OU,” International Advisory Committee President Hillary Medina said.

“All the native countries, they will be coming up with their goods, stuff like handicraft things or their core national cultural items made in their countries,” member of the Student Association of Bangladesh Sadia Afrin said.

There was face painting, cultural body art, and a performance by the Redliners.

Handmade and imported items were on sale from each organization. Many people brought cash and bought several of the items available.

There was jewelry, clothing, and miscellaneous things for sale.

Little passports were provided so that each person could get their passport stamped as they traveled to different booths.

Each booth was set up by different international student organizations, and members of each organizations spoke to people about their culture.

Some organizations were serving their national snacks, and explaining the value of it. The Iranian student association was serving Persian black tea, and the Vietnamese Student Association gave away candy from Vietnam.

The Redliner, the only co-ed acapella group at OU, performed two songs for people visiting the international Bazar.

The audience gathered around them and watched as they enjoyed the performance.

The International Bazaar is held annually during the fall semester at OU. It is the largest cultural event during the fall, according to the IAC website.

The IAC sponsors the event every year.

The International Advisory Committee is an executive student organization that represents international students, and coordinates the efforts of all international student organizations, according to the IAC website.

“We kind of try to help them with more of the fun things like demonstrating your culture going to other cultures,” Medina said.

IAC at the University of Oklahoma was established over 23 years ago with the primary purpose of uniting all of the international cultural associations on campus, according to the IAC website

OU Organiztions

Sooners enjoy helping people.

Students at the University of Oklahoma create organizations that help each other and people in different communities.

“I think it’s wonderful that students have made it a priority to help others, it just goes to show how amazing our school truly is,” OU student Alexandria Long said.

There are several active organizations at OU that want to make a difference.

This mission of the Campus Cursive organization is to unify students and faculty at OU by composing handwritten love letters to people in need.

“We are going to write letters to the people in Colorado that lost their homes in the flood last month,” president of Campus Cursive Madison Hake said. “We want to give them words of encouragement in this difficult time.”

Sooners Helping Sooners is a new organization that raises money for people in emergency financial situations at the University, according to the SHS website.

“The hope of SHS is to drive this campaign of compassion so that every Sooner has an opportunity to succeed at OU, despite extenuating circumstances,” Chairman Beth Huggins said.

Youth Empowering Society wants to create opportunities for those wishing to give back to their community, and to make society a better place with more enthusiastic, active individuals, according to the OU student organizations website.

Friends and Friends is an organization promoting social change based on Quaker principles of peace, equality, simplicity, stewardship and truth, according to the OU student life website.

Members of Friends of Friends are a part of the community, and they believe that people a part of a community must take care of one another in order for a community to flourish and remain enjoyable community, according to members of Friends and Friends.

            

          Members in each of these organizations have gone through difficult situations in life, and would like to help others cope with similar situations.

            

          Hake was struggling with depression during her early semesters at OU, and when she was able to overcome this obstacle, she learned the healing power of words.

            

         She was inspired to start Campus Cursive because she wanted to help people they way she was helped by using the strength of words.

            

         “For me personally I know that life happens, and sometimes it happens when you least expect it, that’s why I’m so excited about Sooners Helping Sooners,” testimonial speaker for SHS Emma Lindgren said.

            

          Lindgren was struggling financially because of outstanding medical bills, but SHS helped her on her feet, and she was finally able to focus on school.

           

          SHS uses 100 percent of its donations to help the students of OU, according to the SHS website.

         Students at OU believe in doing positive things to make a difference.