UMass Lowell students’ food, fashion and talents will be on display at Culture Shock
Connector Editor
Among the plethora of end-of-year activities and events, Culture Shock, presented by ASAO and Greek Council, stands out as a premier event to take part in on April 27 at the Campus Recreation Center (CRC). Full of fashion, food and performances, Brittaney Cameron, president of ASAO, explains why students should attend Culture Shock.
Q: What is ASAO? What is its purpose at UMass Lowell?
ASAO is the Association for Students of African Origin. We help spread awareness of African culture and expose students to things they normally wouldn’t be exposed to. Additionally, we provide an open space for students to talk about the community or their everyday lives.
Q: What is Culture Shock?
Culture Shock is our annual show, in which we display different cultures through food, fashion and performances and show how we relate to one another. We have been putting this show on for about five years, and we’re glad to be partnering with Greek Council again.
Q: What types of fashion/garments will be displayed? How will this portion of Culture Shock run?
Most of the fashion portion of Culture Shock will feature UMass Lowell students displaying their own clothing lines. Students’ fashion will include Crude, a Haitian-American clothing line by Duvivier Guinard, Lief Kultuur by Richard Asirifi and more. On top of that, some of our fashion exhibits will include clothes designed by Johnny Cupcakes, representing American urban wear.
Q: What types of foods will be featured at Culture Shock?
The Latin American Student Association (LASA) will provide Spanish foods, Students of Caribbean Ancestry (SOCA) will bring Caribbean and West Indian dishes and Suppa’s will deliver pizza. Furthermore, we will try to bring in food from local restaurants, and some of our executive board members will cook some meals of their own.
Q: What performances will take place at Culture Shock?
There will be a rap performance, as well as cultural dance performances by LASA and the Cape Verdean Student Association (CVSA), and more.
Q: What will make Culture Shock different from any other UMass Lowell event this year?
This event will be different because we’re aiming to unite the entire UMass Lowell community, have people come together and represent where they’re from. We have been working hard and thinking outside the box to make this event as special as possible.
Q: Why should students, as well as the Lowell community, come to this event?
Students should come out to celebrate and learn about other cultures. Also, there aren’t a lot of fashion shows on campus, so ours was pretty big last year, and we’re looking to create the same hype this year.
Q: What are your goals for this event?
I hope a lot of people show up, they are all happy and everything’s organized and running smoothly. I just want people to have a good time.
