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Filipino club celebrates its re-establishment
The UO group Kultura Pilipinas returned to campus, after recent leadership and interest lacks, to enjoy and take pride in its heritage
by Stephanie Land | Freelance Reporter |
The student group Kultura Pilipinas held its Filipino Culture Night on Saturday in the Gerlinger Hall gym to promote the club and raise awareness about the culture of the Southeast Asian island nation of the Philippines.
KP served almost 200 guests with a traditional Filipino meal and entertained through dancing demonstrations, speeches, videos and skits depicting the evolution of the group.
Because the club has been inactive for the past few years, it held the event as a sort of grand re-opening. "Pagbubuhay," translated as revival or rebirth, was the theme of the night.
"It's the first club in a couple of years, so there's a lot of stuff we're learning about in terms of setting up an event like this," said freshman Theresa Galvan, director of KP.
Filipino clubs have been inactive at the University since around 2003 due to lack of leadership and interest. This year, however, Galvan restarted the club with the help of University students Matt Boyce and Stefan Dinglasan and other members of the Filipino community.
The culture night was the first big event for the club since it was re-established this year and they hope it will raise awareness about their club.
"Overall, we want this to be a big recruitment tool. We want to introduce our culture as Filipino Americans and let people know that just because it's a Filipino group, you don't have to be Filipino to join," said Dinglasan, director of recruitment and retention for the club.
Boyce, the club's Executive Finance Director, said the club has special meaning to him because his brother Jeff ran the club in 2002 when it had a large presence on campus
"The main theme here is that we're back," he said.
The night began with welcoming speeches from Boyce and members Sothreaksa Keo and Justin Tandingan, who stressed the importance of preserving Filipino culture.
Tandingan said Filipinos are a vastly underrepresented group in America and because of that, the club will strive to promote their culture through community outreach and education.
KP served almost 200 guests with a traditional Filipino meal and entertained through dancing demonstrations, speeches, videos and skits depicting the evolution of the group.
Because the club has been inactive for the past few years, it held the event as a sort of grand re-opening. "Pagbubuhay," translated as revival or rebirth, was the theme of the night.
"It's the first club in a couple of years, so there's a lot of stuff we're learning about in terms of setting up an event like this," said freshman Theresa Galvan, director of KP.
Filipino clubs have been inactive at the University since around 2003 due to lack of leadership and interest. This year, however, Galvan restarted the club with the help of University students Matt Boyce and Stefan Dinglasan and other members of the Filipino community.
The culture night was the first big event for the club since it was re-established this year and they hope it will raise awareness about their club.
"Overall, we want this to be a big recruitment tool. We want to introduce our culture as Filipino Americans and let people know that just because it's a Filipino group, you don't have to be Filipino to join," said Dinglasan, director of recruitment and retention for the club.
Boyce, the club's Executive Finance Director, said the club has special meaning to him because his brother Jeff ran the club in 2002 when it had a large presence on campus
"The main theme here is that we're back," he said.
The night began with welcoming speeches from Boyce and members Sothreaksa Keo and Justin Tandingan, who stressed the importance of preserving Filipino culture.
Tandingan said Filipinos are a vastly underrepresented group in America and because of that, the club will strive to promote their culture through community outreach and education.
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