On Sunday April 13th, the Multicultural Outreach Team held SpringFest for the first time, a development which caused many Choate students to wonder what changes would be implemented. The Multicultural Outreach Team was created last spring by Melissa Diaz ’06 in an effort to provide assistance in adjusting to life at Choate, specifically for students from different cultures. The group was meant to be a mix between peer educators and the assessment team. However, upon realizing the limits of a newly established group, the Multicultural Outreach Team decided to act as more of a cultural club and simply focus on promoting diversity for the time being on campus.

Adding a Twist

Narabey Garcia ’08 proposed the idea of an internationally themed SpringFest during a team meeting. Since Narabey is in Spain this term, Nicole Leung ’07 served as the head coordinator, working together with the Multicultural Outreach Team and the team’s advisor, Charlotte Davidson, to plan this year’s SpringFest.

The team originally planned to give Springfest more of an international theme. According to Nicole Leung ’07, “when we [the Multicultural Outreach Team] first came up with the idea, we didn’t want to change the nature of Springfest at all. We liked having clubs at booths selling food, but we wanted to emphasize the fact that there are so many cultures, and to make it more of a celebration of diversity.” Unfortunately, some of the more elaborate ideas proposed, such as plans for a ‘Springfest Passport’ to be stamped by each booth visited, fell through due to time constraints and out of budget pricing.

Newcomers to the Foray

In addition to traditional SpringFest foods such as Cotton Candy and Snow Cones, sold this year by the Crossfire and Model UN Clubs, foods sold by other clubs illustrated the global nature of the event. Dumplings were co-sold by the Chinese Club, Save Darfur Organization, and the Students for a Free Tibet club, and chicken teriyaki and beef barbeque skewers were served by Educate Asia. In addition, there were a few delicious newcomers to the food foray. ASA sold out of its Ramune sodas, which have been popular at previous student events, and UNICEF and CALSA did very well with their respective products, Bananas Uganda and African Iced Coffee. HLF brought its authentic homemade tacos back to SpringFest, and EAC served freshly made smoothies. In an effort to broaden the international quality of the foods served, ASEAN sold mochi, small Japanese desserts, and the Culinary Club offered Polish apricot cookies.

The clubs were grouped according to continent, and groups that did not necessarily associate with any one continent, such as the community service groups, chose a country and raised funds to donate to a program in that country. In regards to the changes to Springfest this year, My-Co Nguyen ’08, a member of the Multicultural Outreach Team, felt that “Springfest was more systematized this year, but other than the categorization of the continents, Springfest felt the same.”

A Sustainable Effort

There were also a variety of performances this year, with two professional bands, Strictly for the Birds and The Casual Fiasco serving as the opening and closing acts of the day. In addition, the Chamber Quartet performed a classical Chinese piece. Other entertainment was provided by Aisha Kibwana ’08, who danced to several hip-hop songs, and Elli Nacheva ’08, who stunned the audience with a belly dancing performance.

Bledar Zenuni ’08’s gave his opnion on the overall feel of SpringFest, saying, “It was wonderful to see Choate students so enthusiastic with this year’s multicultural theme. It was wonderful to see people perform and share their heritage with Choate. The best part about this year’s Springfest was that it aimed to create an atmosphere of fun, yet at the same time cultural interaction and cultural convergence. I hope that this becomes a tradition to be followed in the years ahead.”