UBCO Student Union vice president of finance and operations Ryan Kaila has organized the first ever Harmony banquet.
Image Credit: Facebook
October 02, 2015 - 2:30 PM
KELOWNA – It's unusual for Ryan Kaila to walk into a room at UBC Okanagan and not know anyone.
"I consider myself a pretty well-known person around campus,” he says. “But I walked into this cultural club event and I didn't know a single person there. I noticed that all of these groups get the same people at each of their events so I started a group called Harmony and invited all the cultural club presidents to discuss what can be done. I went home and thought about it and came up with the idea of doing a banquet.”
What started as a group of people trying to bring the different clubs together is now a major event. And it could become an annual tradition at the Kelowna campus.
Harmony is a new social event attempting to bring together students from all backgrounds as a way to celebrate diversity and unity. It includes a banquet and a series of performances happening tonight, Oct. 2, at the UNC Amphitheatre.
The night starts at 6 p.m. with a banquet featuring foods representing the cultures of each of the ten clubs that have agreed to participate.
“Every club will provide food and do a five-minute performance,” Kaila says. “Then we’ll open it up as a dance. It’s a platform for the clubs to reach out to students that wouldn’t otherwise come to their events.”
The evening will be hosted by Toronto comedian and YouTube star Babbu and will include clubs like the South Asian Alliance, Association of Bangladeshi Students, the African Caribbean Student Club and the Napalese Scholars Association, among others.
“It’s a huge networking event and a chance to meet new people,” he says. “And maybe gain knowledge and get rid of some stereotypes, as well.”
Kaila hopes to make Harmony an annual event and expects more than 500 people will attend tonight.
Tickets are available to both students and non-students at the door, which opens at 6 p.m.
For more information, visit the Harmony event page on Facebook.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infonews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015