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Guests at the 2020 International Food Festival wait in the Walker Conference Center lobby. This year, the event will be held partly virtually. (photo by Hannah Adamson)

International Club to host partly virtual food festival

BY KENZIE BURKS

Staff Writer

The International Club will host its annual International Food Festival on Tuesday, Feb. 16. This year, the festival will be partially virtual due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Gwyneth Hadasa, junior international student and president of International Club, particularly enjoys that the festival recognizes students with international experience, whether that be long-term residence or a semester of study.

“The food festival is for students who have studied abroad or lived abroad,” Hadasa said.

Hadasa came to Ouachita from Indonesia. She is excited to be able share her culture and the culture of other international students with the Ouachita community.

For freshman International Club member Breanna Watson, this will be her first time to witness the variety of cultural cuisines represented at the event.

“The International Club students have basically been selected to create recipes to show off their different cultures,” Watson said.

Watson’s role for this year’s festival is to be a “runner.” President Ben Sells will be under a purple tent, while Watson will be delivering goody bags across campus.

“I think this is a way to still incorporate the most cherished elements of the food festival,” Watson said.

The online aspect of this year’s festival will include QR codes that students can scan to watch videos that show them how to make a few of this year’s featured dishes.

“This year is different, but still exciting,” Hadasa said.

After attending and participating in some of the past food festivals, Hadasa still believes that this festival will be just as good as the ones in past years.

Some of the most memorable recipes have been European cake, Chinese dumplings and Hadasa’s own Indonesian spicy beef curry.

“My favorite recipe so far has been the dumplings from China that were made last year,” Hadasa said.

Although this year’s festival will be different,the International Club officers and members are excited to share the recipes they know and love with the Ouachita community.

The Carl Goodson Honors program is preparing to host its annual Black and White Reception on March 6 at 8 p.m. in Jones Performing Arts Center.

This reception welcomes new students to the Honors program, recognizes students that have completed their thesis and facilitates the awarding of financial grants. This year, an outdoor reception is set to follow the ceremony.

Leaders of the Honors program and representatives of the academic schools across campus help plan the reception each year. Due to uncertainty from COVID-19, the coordinators only recently learned that they can still hold the reception this year.

Despite still being in the planning stages, the reception coordinators are working to ensure that the event is still a fun one for Honors students.

The Black and White Reception is usually held in Walker Conference Center, but this year it has been moved to JPAC. This will allow coordinators to control social distancing and allow more space for guest safety. The guest list is also limited due to social distancing guidelines.

The event coordinators also plan to replace the tradition of an in-person alumni guest speaker with short clips of alumni from each academic school to encourage students to keep working toward academic success.

Honors ambassador Kristi Roshto is looking forward to this new element of the reception.

“One of the things that I am excited for is having clips of past alumni,” Roshto said. “We hope to receive clips representing each school to encourage those in the Honors program to keep pushing for academic success.”

In addition, President Dr. Ben Sells plans to sponsor a special surprise in order to make up for the loss of the usual traditions this year. This is also likely to be a highlight of the event for students.

Donors for the Black and White Reception include President Sells, the Goodson family, Sodexo and a local flower shop that donated a flower piece for the piano. Associate Professor of Music Dr. Mary Chung will also be performing at the reception. The event coordinators also want a music ensemble to play at the reception.

The coordinators are proceeding with caution but are dedicated to putting on a memorable and safe event. The Honors leadership and everyone involved with planning this year’s reception are excited to celebrate the Honors students.

Last year’s Black and White Reception took place at the end of February. This year’s event will look much different with masks and social distancing, and it is set to take place in Jones Performing Arts Center. (photo by Hannah Smith)

Honors program plans reception

BY ELIZABETH WIMBERLY

Staff Writer

NEWS

WWW.OBUSIGNAL.COM | PAGE 5 Black History Month celebrates, educates

BY MAKENZIE HALL

Staff Writer

For the first three years of his schooling, he was surrounded by a close-knit community of faculty and staff. It was a nurturing environment where everyone knew each other. However, when it was time for him to start the fourth grade, he entered a new school— an integrated one. As he looked around, he noticed the only staff members that came with him from his all-Black school were the bus drivers and cafeteria workers. The rest of the faculty was deemed “unqualified” to teach at the newly-integrated school.

This is a small piece of Special Assistant to the President Dr. Lewis Shepherd’s story. February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate and honor Black Americans’s impact. It is also a time to reflect on the past and remember stories like Dr. Shepherd’s.

Throughout the month of February, Ouachita’s Multicultural Organization Reaching Equality (MORE) is hosting events for students, faculty and staff to engage with Black history.

MORE has adapted this year’s Black History Month celebrations to comply with COVID-19 guidelines. Students can expect smaller, socially distanced events instead of the larger celebrations they may be used to.

A few of these events include a different African American author spotlight every week in the library, a prayer gathering at the Flag Plaza on Feb. 16 and music and dessert during Friday at Dr. Jack’s on Feb. 26 to end the month’s festivities.

Students can also participate in the game night that MORE is hosting in the student center on Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. There is a month-long scavenger hunt happening each Friday that students can be a part of, too. The last day for Val-AGram pick-up is Friday, Feb. 12.

MORE is a part of the Multicultural Student Programs (MSP). MSP also consists of La Fuerza, an organization supporting Latino and Hispanic students at Ouachita. While La Fuerza celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month in the fall, it also helps with Black History Month events as part of MSP. For Monica Rutledge, Multicultural Support Specialist, MSP is about motivation, education and celebration. “It is designed to support students of color that may or may not feel naturally involved or connected,” Rutledge said. “We want students to know that they are more than just a number on the roster and more than just a warm body on campus. We are committed to their overall success on campus, off campus and even after their college days have ended.”

MORE’s Vice President Tyrese Allen sees the organization as a way to create a safe space to educate others about the importance of Black history and culture.

“We have to teach, we have to educate, we have to let them know,” Allen said. “Who better to tell our story than us?”

Dr. Shepherd hopes that participants of all racial and cultural backgrounds know they are welcome to join the celebrations that MSP and MORE facilitate during this month.

“I hope that people can step back and see the larger picture of how African Americans through history made an impact in American culture,” Shepherd said. “It’s OK to celebrate not just Black culture, but it’s OK to celebrate everybody’s culture because everyone has something to contribute. Everyone deserves to experience a sense of belonging.”

Top to bottom: MORE members sell Val-A-Grams outside Evans Student Center. (photo by Callie Rogers). A Sodexo server prepares a student’s plate during the Black History Month lunch. (photo by Meagan North) The MORE choir gathers in Berry Chapel to practice. The choir will perform in a virtual concert on Facebook live on Feb. 23. (photo by Sarah Dean)