Student Groups Honor the Richness and Diversity of Asian Cultures

Student Groups Honor the Richness and Diversity of Asian Cultures

By Rebecca Goldfine

This month, the Asian Students Alliance and many other affinity groups organized a full calendar of events to celebrate the nations and cultures represented in the Bowdoin student body.

The Annual Fashion Show

One of the most popular nights of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month at Bowdoin-or all year-is the annual fashion show. Featuring many affinity groups, students show off their country's traditional clothing on a runway. Some also perform dances, both traditional and modern.

This year, the following clubs participated in the April 18 show: Asian Students Alliance, Chinese Students Association, Korean Students Association, Vietnamese Students Association, Philippine Society of Bowdoin College, South Asian Students Association, Central Asian and East European Students Association, and Japan Cultural Society-as well as "many more talented student models and performers from across campus!" according to ASA.

At Bowdoin, the Asian Students Alliance (ASA) serves as the bridge between all the Asian and Pacific Islander clubs, and ASA co-leaders Anna Tran '26 and Juyeon "Juju" Lee '26 helped drive the effort in the weeks leading up to the fashion show. "We felt the pressure! Because we know how big the event has become, we wanted to make sure all the groups were on the same page and everyone felt they were celebrated," said Tran.

The night was a huge success, by all accounts. "It was a surreal feeling being there Saturday, at the show, and seeing the turnout and how excited, animated, and invested everyone was," Tran added.

Asian Students Alliance, Bringing Everyone Together

Lee joined the ASA her first year at Bowdoin, seeking "a community specifically about identity and about learning," she said. "I wanted to be in community with other Asian students. I thought, what better way to also give back to the community."

Tran added: "I think a lot of students come to Bowdoin from predominantly one demographic or another, so to be able to offer a space where people can feel how rich and diverse Asian culture is, and not just this one monolithic representation. That's important, and it's something we value in all the events we put on."

With this in mind, ASA opened AAPI month on April 3 with a kick-off event in Ladd House, inviting all the AAPI groups to bring food, games, crafts, or other offerings from their cultures to share.

Arianna Rodriguez, the assistant director of the Center for Multicultural Life, said despite it being a cold day, there was a big turnout by students, staff, and faculty. "It was nice to see the community come together in that way. I left feeling that my cup was filled," she said.

A Matsuri with Japan Cultural Society

The Japan Cultural Society put on a "grand" event for AAPI month, said president Sergianni Jennings '26: a matsuri, which is Japanese for festival.

The group invited the Bowdoin community as well as students in Bates College's Asian Student Association and Japanese language program to its spring-themed matsuri in the Schwartz Outdoor Leadership Center April 11. "It was one of our biggest events in a long time," Jennings said. She estimated that over the course of the four-hour party, more than 130 people turned out for it.

The matsuri featured three special treats: onigiri (rice balls), a matcha bar, and mochitsuki-a hands-on mochi-pounding activity where guests helped turn glutinous rice into soft rice cakes, then topped them with red bean paste or strawberries. "That is what a festival is in Japan-they have a lot of foods, and we wanted to emulate that in a realistic way," Jennings said.

The Japan Cultural Society's goal is to bring Japanese culture to campus and serve as a hub for learning. "Everyone in the group has a shared interest in bringing Japan to campus because it plays an important part in our lives," she said.

New Year Festival with the South Asian Students Association

Bowdoin's South Asian Students Association (SASA) hosted Utsav Mela at Ladd House on April 19 in honor of AAPI Heritage Month.

Kaavya Mundkur '26 explained that Utsav Mela celebrations started at Bowdoin in 2024 as a way for community members to have a more secular event to celebrate the various new years that occur around this time, like the Sikh and Nepali new years.

Mundkur and other SASA board members-including Zara Lall '27 and Sabina Gill '29-decorated Ladd House with colorful South Asian adornments, ordered Indian food from the downtown restaurant Shere Punjab (a student favorite), and set out South Asian crafts and puzzles.

After the guests had settled in, mingled, and eaten some food, Gill introduced dancers Anika Sen '26, Claudia Krishnan '29, Prapti Mondal '29, and Kaya Patel '26.

All four wore dazzling outfits and charmed the attendees with their coordination. In the crowd of onlookers, South Asian students were well represented, but people from outside the community were also present and engaged. Mundkur couldn't emphasize enough that all events are open to any student, staff, or faculty member who is curious about South Asian culture.

By Neiman Mocombe '26

Dumplings with the Adoptee Alliance

It was at a dumpling-making event last year when Lia Scharnau '26 had the first glimmer of inspiration to form a student club for adoptees and others from nontraditional families. At the event, she connected with others who, like her, had been adopted from Asia.

After that evening, they kept meeting and chatting, eventually deciding they should make the group official, which they did last fall.

"We're very focused on building a community of people with a shared identity, or for people who have a family member who is adopted or they're interested in potentially adopting," Scharnau said.

This year, for AAPI month, the club organized a tofu and pork dumpling-making event of its own. "We made 120 dumplings, teaching people how to fold them and cook them," Scharnau said. "It's a fan favorite!"

Sheep knuckle bones and treats with the Central Asian and East European Students Association (CAEESA)

Ulemj Munkhtur '26 and Yasmine Biyashev '26 launched CAEESA in February to "create a welcoming space for anyone who feels connected to the steppes, the Caucasus, the Balkans, and communities shaped by Soviet and Ottoman histories," Munkhtur said.

The group has members who represent the nations of Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Romania, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Hungary, and Serbia.

At the AAPI kickoff on April 3, the club's members brought traditional snacks such as aaruul (dried dairy curd), pishmanye (a light cookie), quroot (salted dried yogurt balls), and ayran (a yogurt drink). They also told fortunes with sheep knuckle bones. Four members also participated in the annual fashion show.

"Being part of AAPI month is meaningful because people often only think of East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian cultures when they think of Asia, so participating gave us the chance to highlight cultures that are less recognized while helping students feel seen and represented on campus," Munkhtur said.

Making Capiz Shells with the Philippine Society

The Philippine Society organized a capiz shell-making workshop to create outfits to wear in the fashion show. "Capiz shells are a type of mollusk native to the Philippine Sea and have been used for centuries for architecture, handcrafts, and home decor," said co-leader Isabella Ardell '26.

In the show, group members showed off traditional barongs, filipinanas, and capiz shell attire, she said. "For our dance performance segment, we performed tinikling, a traditional Philippine folk dance involving sliding bamboo sticks," and they did a hip-hop segment to Bruno Mar's "Treasure."

Making Mandu with the Korean Students Association

Making mandus, which are Korean dumplings, requires time and community. "It is something you make with your family, sitting around a table together, folding each one by hand," said Esther Pak '26, the leader of the Korean Students Association. The group hosted a mandu-making session for students on April 11, as well as participated in the fashion show.

Contributing to AAPI month matters to KSA, she said, because it is a chance to show how rich and distinct Korean culture is, and to make sure that Korean students feel proud and celebrated for who they are. "It goes beyond just our community too, it's also an invitation for everyone else to learn, engage, and appreciate a culture they might not be as familiar with," she added.

Pak joined KSA her first year at Bowdoin, seeking the kind of tight-knit Korean community she had grown up with. "As co-president of KSA, I wanted to make sure other students coming in could find the same comfort in knowing there is already a community here, rooting for them from day one."

Making mandu in Ladd. "Celebrating culture doesn't always have to be super formal," Esther Pak said. "Sometimes it looks like a table covered in wrappers, people doing their best to fold, and a dumpling that might be a little lopsided but tastes just as good anyway."

"We want to provide a space where Korean students can share food, language, traditions, and experiences without having to explain themselves. To Bowdoin's broader community, KSA brings visibility to Korean culture through campus-wide events-because the more people experience new things, the richer Bowdoin becomes. We're very glad that we get to be a small part of that."

-Esther Pak '26

Published April 30, 2026