On Feb. 19, the Salt Lake Community College Asian Awareness Month Committee celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year at the South City Campus.
This is the first year South City Campus hosted the festivities. Prior celebrations have only taken place at the Taylorsville Redwood Campus.
“We’re really glad that we are able to expand it to the South City Campus this year,” says First Year Experience advisor Miki Crutchfield.
The celebration included the rhythm of drums and the traditional lion dance in the forum room, performed by martial artists from the Sil Lum Kung Fu Kwoon school. SLCC students as well as children from a local school gathered to watch the performance.
The lion dance is a traditional Asian cultural dance that is mostly performed during Lunar New Year celebrations as well as other special occasions.
The Sil Lum Kung Fu Kwoon School of Martial Arts has been performing for SLCC for many years during the Lunar New Year celebration.
“It’s a lot of fun. We are very integrated in the Asian community. You use your Kung Fu underneath the lion dance. It’s a way to use your Kung Fu without using your Kung Fu,” says Sil Lum Kung Fu Kwoon School instructor Sifu Damian Snyder, who has performed the Lion Dance for nearly 20 years.
During the event, members of the Asian Awareness Month Committee gave out jian dui, a traditional Chinese pastry that is shaped in a ball and covered with sesame seeds as a symbol of good fortune.
Traditionally, people in China celebrate the Lunar New Year for 16 consecutive days. The Asian Awareness Month Committee is extending the celebration by inviting all SLCC students to an event called the Taste of Asia.
Taste of Asia will be held at noon on Tuesday, March 10 in the Student Center at Taylorville Redwood Campus. Lunch will be provided for free to students who attend. The event will include an interactive lecture about the Asian-American experience.
“Being the 10 year anniversary, one of our themes this year is to really try to bring awareness to all students, what it means to be an Asian or an Asian-American,” says Crutchfield, who is of Japanese descent.
