Issue date: 5/2/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Vincent Beiderbecke Be Nguyen performs with other members of the Vietnamese Student Association during Multicultural Night 4, which was held on Thursday in the University Union Ballroom. [Click to enlarge]

Scroll to the bottom for a slideshow of additional pictures.

Epsilon Sigma Rho - with special support from Associated Students Inc., UNIQUE program, KSSU and the Multi-Cultural Center - brought diversity to life in a celebration showcasing performances by 16 organizations from the Sacramento and Sacramento State communities on Thursday.

The University Union Ballroom was packed with more than 1,000 people at the fourth annual Multicultural Night.

Guillermo Torres, the special project coordinator of ASI and former president of Epsilon Sigma Rho, is an active member in the community. He's a mentor and tutor at surrounding urban schools, but his roots are in ethnic studies and promoting diversity.

"I'm half Black and half Mexican. I was raised in the Bay Area. I was lucky enough to attend a high school with an ethnic studies program, and when I came here I decided to continue to pursue it. This is an event to praise the diversity we have on campus," said Torres, an ethnic studies senior.

Tyehimba Kokayi, a senior ethnic studies major, attended the event as a representative and secretary of the Ethnic Studies Student Association, as well as the president of Sac State's West African Drum and Dance club. He was there to promote recruitment of the club, as well as inspire others to be ethnic studies minors and majors.

"Having access to all different groups is really fascinating, especially to find out how much we all really have in common," Kokayi said.

The West African Drum Club performed a lively dance and drum sequence on stage. The club meets Wednesdays and Fridays at 8 p.m. in Yosemite 187. Kokayi said anyone interested can attend.

Members from other on-campus clubs such as the African Students Association and Samahang Pilipino club also performed traditional dances unique to their cultures.

Robert Taylor and Shawn Asberry, both freshmen came to the event with fliers to promote up-and-coming, Sacramento based hip-hop, rap and R&B star J. Gib, otherwise known as "The Soul of the City."

"We knew he was coming here to perform, so we decided to take the initiative to promote him," said Asberry, a criminal justice major.

J. Gib got the crowd moving with his own lyrics to the beat of Jim Jones' popular hit "We Just Balling'" in addition to performing his own hit songs "Damn Thang" and his new single "On One," a song that can now be requested on local radio stations.

As the host and primary organizer of the event for the second year in a row, Torres said that the turnout was amazing.

"This was one of the biggest crowds we've seen in four years. Every year it gets bigger and better. It's definitely one of the biggest events Sac State has," he said.

Torres hopes that the event continues to excel in future years, even though he is graduating next month.

He said, "I think it's really important for recruitment, but mostly it is necessary because it actually shows how diverse the campus is, rather than just saying it."

Bailey Mannisto-Ichès can be reached at
news@statehornet.com

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