By Lauren Wallace
This week Darden celebrated its diverse global community through various events, workshops and discussions, and with lots of free food! Many of Darden’s affinity clubs hosted the events of the week, some of which included First Coffees sponsored by Asia Business Club at Darden (ABCD) and Pride at Darden (PAD), panel discussions led by Global Women in Business (GWIB), Black Business Student Association (BBSA) and Darden African Business Association (DABO), and cultural events hosted by Darden South Asia Society (DSAS) and Global Business and Culture Club (GBCC). Olamide Alli (Class of 2018), Darden Student Association’s VP for Diversity, shared more about the purpose One Darden Week:
“One Darden Week is hosted yearly in order to provide a great opportunity to the students, faculty, and staff to get involved in Darden’s community, as well as to get to know other people at Darden through diverse and inclusive events that highlight the various cultures represented here in our community.”
See below for pictures from the week and a recap of some of the global events of One Darden Week!
One of the first club-sponsored events on Monday was GWIB’s panel discussion, “Gender Goes Global”. The panel of more than ten students from countries all around the world, including Indonesia, Colombia, India and many others, shared the similarities and differences of growing up as women in their respective communities. The events concluded Monday with a panel discussion co-sponsored by DABO and BBSA on identity exploration. Students from Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the U.S. made up the diverse panel that answered questions about the different cultural identities found within the Darden community.
On Tuesday, Asia Business Club at Darden sponsored First Coffee and served different teas commonly used in Asian countries and communities. Net Impact and Hispanic American Network at Darden (HAND) served paletas on Tuesday afternoon, a common Hispanic dessert made with frozen fruit similar to popsicles. DSAS served up some classic South Asian cuisine at their evening showing of Hasan Minhaj’s Homecoming King, a stand-up comedy special about his experience of growing up in an Indian family in the U.S.
Pride at Darden hosted Wednesday’s First Coffee, followed by another GWIB-sponsored discussion centered on “Why Women Should Opt Into Finance”. The European Society took over the lawn on Wednesday afternoon for their Ice Cream and Siesta event, encouraging students to take some time to relax, relieve stress and take an afternoon nap in Flagler Court. On Thursday, Latin American Student Association (LASA) and Wine and Cuisine Club organized a cold call on that served up some traditional Latin American foods.
One Darden Week is not yet over! Be sure to attend Darden’s largest global event of the year, the Global Food Festival sponsored by GBCC, on Sunday 17 October to sample cuisines from over a dozen countries and an assortment of cultural presentations and performances, all by Darden students and staff!
