Celebrations Showcase Parade of Cultures at UAMS
| Hundreds of members of the campus community recently packed the ground floor concourse of the UAMS Education II building to travel the world.
A visitor watches while his name is written in Chinese characters.
About a dozen countries were represented at International Fest, the Sept. 27 culminating celebration of Diversity Month, organized by the UAMS Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and co-sponsored by the Chancellor’s Diversity Committee and the UAMS Graduate School.
“We typically schedule this event as the final celebration of everything we’ve done for diversity month,” said Odette Woods, a senior director of diversity who helped organize the event. “It’s really a fun way to celebrate what a unique place UAMS is, where you can be surrounded by so many cultures and hear a variety of different languages just by walking down the hall.”
Indeed, the globe-spanning nature of Team UAMS was on display in the tables that were set up along the concourse, each representing a different country. They included China, the Philippines, Ghana, Haiti, South Africa, Uganda, Vietnam, Brazil, Zimbabwe and the Marshall Islands.
Erick Messias, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., tests his knowledge by identifying the 20 countries represented by a display of national flags.
“With such a diverse faculty and student population, the UAMS Graduate School was a natural partner for this event, and we were so pleased to help with sponsorship and to celebrate the multiculturalism that adds so much to our campus community,” said Bobby McGehee, Ph.D., dean of the UAMS Graduate School.
In addition to offering Five Roses tea, the South Africa booth displayed sculptured animals, jewelry and knives, including antiques made of ivory (imported legally, it was noted). At Vietnam, a display gave an overview of native fruits as rice was served to early arrivals. Across the aisle, Ugandan samosas were served next to woodcarvings and a native stringed instrument.
Cultural dances were performed by representatives from the Philippines and Marshall Islands, while nearby volunteers wrote visitors’ names in Chinese characters for them to take with them and display.
UAMS Catering serves an international menu including ratatouille and nakkikastike.
A full international lunch offering was provided by UAMS Catering, featuring fattoush, a Lebanese side salad; Jamaican beef patties; nakkikastike, a Finnish dish of hot dogs in a tomato sauce; Greek pizza; ratatouille, a vegetable dish from France; Mongolian rice; macaroons; Russian orange drop cookies; and raspberry linzer cookies from Australia.
“It really takes a team effort to pull this off,” said Woods, who said organizers worked with international admissions experts in the Graduate School to recruit participants. “But we hope this is enjoyable, both for the participants and the guests, and that they leave here with a new appreciation for just how diverse UAMS is and its unique place in Arkansas in that regard.”