Annual Holiday Fest celebrates cultural traditions
Entering the final weeks of the semester, USC Aiken’s Office of Student Life showcased its annual Holiday Fest on Dec. 2.
According to the Holiday Fest website, it is designed to provide educational opportunities as well as insight into other countries and their traditions and holidays.
The event began at 5 p.m. in the Student Activities Center (SAC) and ended roughly around 7 p.m.
In this duration, families and college students alike milled around booths, collecting stamps from hosts at the booths and participating in discussions surrounding the table’s specific topic.
Q’May Qourters, student government Vice President, hosted a table with her sister, President Q’Ladrin Qourters.
The Student Government Association (SGA) chose their booth to represent Saint Nicholas. They dove into the origin of his legend and how the legend transcended into American culture into the figure known as Santa Claus.
Beyond the historical and cultural context booths provided, Vice President Quorters commented on how the Holiday Fest illustrated a community and made USCA “feel like home.”
“This is a time where the university is giving back to the students and community.”
Remarking on the final week of classes and the collective stress upon students, she said that this event would “boost up [students] spirits.”
Natasha Flores, public media coordinator of Unity, remarked on the spirit of inclusivity and welcoming that the Holiday Fest had to offer.
The decision to host a table at the event, according to Flores, was due in part of the inclusive attitude already set by the Holiday Fest.
“We wanted Unity to have a presence here because there are so many LGBT students that aren’t going to come home, or … [they] come back to homophobic families.”
Jasmine Tackett, a student, commented on her experience at Holiday Fest, expressing gratitude toward the school.
“It was a great experience! We got to learn about different culture’s holidays and try new types of food,” she wrote. “I love USCA for educating and sharing different cultures.”
Booths illustrating the significance of the time of year in other cultures, as well as traditions that are overlooked in American culture, were interactive, giving students “the chance to ‘travel all around the world’,” as promised in the Holiday Fest’s webpage.
The Holiday Fest’s dedication to educational experiences and inclusivity reflects the USCA’s mission statement to “form a diverse community of individuals engaged in educational experiences and service necessary for the pursuit of meaningful work in an enlightened, inclusive, and economically vibrant society.”
