MOST OUTSTANDING CULTURAL PROGRAM NOMINEE
university of south alabama vietnamese student association
tet festival
Describe the cultural program and how it meets the mission and goals of the organization. Details MUST include: Date of event, number of participants, program purpose (i.e. goals and objectives), member involvement, use of resources, and marketing techniques.
After a year hiatus, USA’s Tet festival came back on February 9th, 2024. Around 100 people, including our members and people in the community, came to watch our performances and celebrate the new year. The purpose of this event is to showcase our vibrant Vietnamese culture to the South and Mobile community. Some of our members helped create the decorations and volunteer throughout the event, helping with set-up/clean-up and passing out food. For food and drinks, we made some of the items and received sponsorships from local restaurants for the rest. For our lion dancing, we recruited White Tiger Lion Dancing from Biloxi, MS to come and perform. For our fan dancing, we recruited members and trained a month before. To market this event, we created an Instagram post, created flyers to hang up on campus and in local businesses, and encouraged people to come via our meetings and our Groupme.
How did this cultural program serve the campus and/or community?
The goal of this event was to celebrate the Vietnamese culture while having a fun, immersive, and educational experience with the campus community. The Lunar New Year celebration is held near and dear, and in our culture, a proper celebration brings luck and fortune in the new year. We invited students, faculty, community members, and their families to join us for this celebration. As this event was cosponsored by the Student Government Association, many student government members attended as well to see the impact of their funds. The event was also an opportunity to raise money for the regional CPP, and we raised over $300 in entry fees to benefit philanthropy.
Did the organization overcome any challenges that arose while planning and implementing the cultural program/event? How?
Last year, USA VSA was not able to host the event due to misaligned goals and hectic schedules. This year, our largest obstacle was staying motivated during the busy spring semester so that we didn’t lose sight of the event’s purpose. Sticking to a schedule and set program of events was difficult, but with so many moving people and parts, we found that flexibility and working with purpose kept us afloat throughout the event. Our amazing team of volunteers from within our club and outside our club made all the difference, and we did an excellent job delegating and keeping a level head. Finding funding was also difficult, but our board divided and conquered. Some members sought sponsorships while others went to on-campus organizations for help.
