Thursday, March 24, 2011

Africans United to Host 7th Annual African Night



CSU students, staff, faculty and the Fort Collins community will be treated to the taste and culture of Africa on April 1 when Africans United hosts the 7th Annual African Night.

At this year’s event themed, The Journey through the Motherland, guests will be entertained to dances from African countries such as Liberia, Uganda and Ghana, as well as a fashion show and food from the different countries.

President of Africans United and junior social work student, Tigist Lijetewa, said the event would provide a platform for people to expose themselves to various African tradition and culture.


“This will be a great learning experience, and also people will be guaranteed to have fun attending an entertaining show,” Lijetewa said. “I think the CSU campus and the CSU community will become aware of Africa from a positive perspective and not what they are used to hearing about Africa on the media.”

The event will help Africans United, an organization created in 2003, reach out to the African community on campus.

“African United aims to unite African students on the CSU campus as well as in the community and to educate about the diverse cultures of Africa through dances, programming and cultural events,” Lijetewa said. “You don't have to be an African to be part of Africans United.”

Junior anthropology student, Jasmine Young, has been a member of Africans United for three years. Young said Africans United gave her the opportunity to have a passion for new experiences and people.

“Being an African American in an African based group allowed me to learn more about others through friendships, program facilitations and more,” Young said. “I have a greater passion for people, and I can say AU has helped me see that.”

Young said she was thrilled about the prospect of attending another African Night.

“I am excited for African Night because AU is always ready to let its audience experience new and amazing things like culture, food, music, and art,” she said. “AU always puts on great programs, and I expect nothing less from African Night.”

Due to lack of funding from student government last year, Africans United had to charge guests to attend the event for the first time in five years.

“I think it was unfortunate that we had to charge last year, but despite that, the event went very well,” said Gabrielle Ohaya, a junior communications studies student and former president of Africans United. “Now that it is back to being free, I expect that there will be a large turnout.”

The event, which is free, is open to the entire public and will take place at the Lory Student Theater from 5-9 p.m.

2 comments:

  1. I like that you're looking at diversity, and this sounds like a neat cultural activity. I know it's a news story, but one suggestion could be to have a little more fun with this. It's Africa--that's one of the most unusual and colorful cultures in the world! Maybe investigate what will be shown of the food and dancing and describe it. Otherwise, it's very clear and easy to read.

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  2. I like the look at something most people wouldn't know about. I think that a closer look at some of the cultural items people might see at this event would be interesting.

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