Editor’s Note: This article contains reporting for an event that was scheduled to take place on April 26, but was canceled due to additional circumstances.

When attending a Student Equity and Belonging Committee (SEBC) workshop on March 3, Nyla Momusse ‘23 listened as numerous students expressed that they often don’t feel represented at LT, she said.

“I thought, ‘wait, that doesn’t seem right,’” Momusse said. “I want people to feel okay, whatever their background is, wherever they come from.”

To provide students the opportunity to recognize cultural differences and to demonstrate their cultures and talents, Momusse, along with World Language Division Chair Paula Nardi and administration, are organizing a Cultural Showcase set to take place on April 26 from 5 to 8 p.m. in the SC Corral. 

“I’m hoping that it brings about awareness [to the fact] that we do have students from a whole bunch of different places and with different backgrounds,” Nardi said. “Going to school every day or going to work every day, it’s important that we know who we are walking the halls with.”

The showcase will include performances, including songs and dances from both individual students and LT clubs that represent their culture or ethnicity. 

“For me, being a mixed student, I just want the chance to show off what I’m about,” Momusse said. “Essentially, I want people to see all of me and to expose them to something new.”

While performances will be held on the stage in the Corral, there will also be booths set up by students and clubs dispersed throughout the room for community members to interact with, Nardi said. The attending clubs will include Arabic Culture club, Latinos Juntos, German club, Latin club, ASL club, Italian club, and PRISM. 

In addition, Nardi plans to bring in an outside Irish dance group and a Mariachi band, she said. The event will also host a henna tattoo artist and food representing various cultures.

The showcase was hosted once previously in November 2019, Nardi said. Although plans for an additional showcase were in the works for the following year, they were shut down due to COVID-19. The event was brought back this year to coincide with LT’s increased emphasis and focus on issues of equity and belonging.

“The students here are different,” Nardi said. “They have different likes, different preferences, different ethnicities, and it should be recognized. When we say ‘we are LT,’ everybody should see who that is.”