Multi-Cultural fair
Louisville students travel around the world
Darcy Mullane '24
Editor-in-Chief of Design
Louisville’s first multi-cultural fair took place on Wednesday February 7, 2024 after ASB decided they wanted to highlight the different cultures represented here at Louisville. It consisted of 24 different tables with Louisville students representing a variety of cultures.
The fair started with ASB president Hailey Kofffman ’24, giving a speech about ASB’s thoughts and intentions for the event. Koffman expressed how ASB wanted to showcase the diversity of Louisville; she explained how she feels that as all of our lives continue on, the fair is a great way to expose yourself to different cultures.
Afterwards, Dr. Aguilar gave a speech on how when she was younger, she was told to hide her culture. Then, she explained how she was proud of ASB and the school for hosting this event to highlight the cultures that make up the people who bring light to Louisville.
After the speeches were over, an informational video played on the difference between cultural appropriation versus appreciation. Over the past few years, people have thrown around the term cultural appropriation without understanding the background of the word. The difference between the two is that appropriation is done without a genuine want to learn about the culture and appreciation is done thoughtfully and with a purpose to learn about another culture. Showing this video served as a learning opportunity, applicable to all cultures.
Danielle Deculus '24, Bailey Funk '24 and Anya Fierson '27 posing proudly wiht their Jewish Culture Booth!
The main part of the event commenced when the student body began to visit countries around the world. They went from booth to booth, learning about these countries and getting cultural food such as soda bread from Ireland, pupusas from El Salvador, egg rolls from Vietnam and British chocolate from the United Kingdom.
The Peruvian table handing out food.
“You could get a taste of everything around the world,” Chloe Bowling ’26 explained.
Students were also given passports for stamps or stickers from each country they visited; this was a great keepsake from the event for everyone to remember the cultures they learned about.
The multi-cultural fair was certainly a success as the whole gymnasium was filled with students enjoying food both new and familiar to them as they learned from their peers.
“It was a great way to express your culture, show who you are, where you’re from and how you’re proud of it,” Katriel Nwene ’24 said after contributing to the fair with her Nigerian booth.
Everyone meets people from different cultures throughout their life, and it is great that Louisville is giving students a forum to learn about the background of their peers.
As Dr. Aguilar explained in her speech, in the past people were taught to feel ashamed of their culture if it was different, but the multicultural fair showed students to be proud of themselves and their heritage. It taught the Louisville community to never feel like their differences are something to hide, but instead they are something to celebrate.