Terrell Hall celebrates diversity through World Night

The staff and residents of Terrell shared their cultures, heritages and specialties with Georgia College & State University through World Night.

World Night started at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12 with a powerpoint presentation displaying pictures of Belize, Burundi, Saint Kitts, Germany, India, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Nigeria, the Republic of Georgia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Ukraine and the United States of America. During the presentation, classical music played to draw viewers’ attention to the significance of these homelands. The National Anthem of the United States played while places in the United States flashed across the projector.

“I wanted to show how the countries look, more specifically how the countrymen look and create a sense of unity,” said Sagar Jani, Terrell resident from Kenya. “(The presentation) embodied the two main forms of communication: visual and sound and attached the audience to the world. The high-tech computer genius behind this project was Doyeon Bak from South Korea.”

After the presentation, three residents performed a talent show. Ciji Merritt started the show with an inspirational dance featuring sign language. Her dance was done to “My Life is in your hands” by Kirk Franklin.

“Every decision I make or do is in God,” she said.

Next, Brandie Mosley shared her poetic talent with the audience. Mosley read “The Negro speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes, whom she believes, is one of the greatest poets, to inform listeners about her hometown of New Orleans. She also read her own poetry, “To Write” and “Louisiana.”

“I wanted to do something about where I was from and share my experiences,” she said.

Last, Allen Dixon graced the audience with comic relief through his song, “My Hat.”

“I lost my hat, and I wanted to write a song about it,” he said.

“I have never heard a song about a hat,” said Dr. Anne Gormly, vice president of Academic Affairs & dean of Faculties.

The dinner followed the festivities. Terrell residents served curry chicken from Sri Lanka, spicy rice form the Republic of Georgia, garden salad, sausage biscuits and O Boy! Syrup from the United States, chocolate and pineapple cake from Germany and cocoa chocolate bars from Sweden.

“(Tonight) was a celebration of diversity, talent and teamwork that we have in Terrell,” said Dilanka Seimon, residential director of Terrell Hall. “This brings out the fact that we are from different countries. We have things like name writing and costumes to represent the different countries. The whole event represents the teamwork and the friendships we have in Terrell.”

Terrell Hall houses the Casa Mondo program, which brings Americans and international students together. The staff and residents of Terrell have put together several theme nights throughout the semester. According to Seimon, these nights are a way to learn more about other countries.

The residents and staff of Terrell worked several hours to teach students and faculty about the world. The poolroom featured posters with facts about countries around the world, such as Kenya, United States of America, Belize, Ukraine, Norway, Deutschland, Iran, Japan, India and Jamaica. Another poster presented the members of Casa Mondo.

“I can’t say enough to the Terrell staff and residents for the efforts
tonight,” said Dr. Paul Jahr, assistant vice president for Student Affairs and director of University Housing. “This activity is the epiphany of what we would like to see happening across the campus and throughout the residence halls.”

Other faculty and staff members spent a portion of their Tuesday night at this interactive function.

“You put people, food and their cultures together it becomes a winning combination,” said Gormly. “(The presentation) captured the beauty of the countries.”

Dr. Bruce Harshbarger, vice president for Student Affairs, emphasized that this event is “a perfect example” of a “valuable” experience that freshman living off-campus would miss out on. Functions similar to this one helped to inspire the idea of having freshman required to live on-campus next year.

“I thought (World Night) was really great. It looked like a lot of people
had put a lot of work into it,” said Dr. Dwight Call, assistant vice president for International Education. “I think it showed that the people really enjoy living here. (This building) builds character.”

Residents of Terrell Hall have made significant effort to meet and get to know other residents in their building.

“Everyone was able to come together and display their countries and something about themselves,” said Cherise Richardson, residential advisor of Terrell Hall. “It was like going out to dinner with your family, because everyone here is so close.”

“(Tonight) was more than successful,” said Anshul Singhal, residential advisor of Terrell Hall. “It was a perfect example of a small residence hall like Terrell Hall accomplishing big tasks and spreading the message of diversity.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 15 2002. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry