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After missing out on two years of in-person Lunar New Year celebrations at Syracuse University, students who celebrate are working to increase active, in-person involvement among people of Asian cultures at SU.

The Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival in several Asian cultures, is a multi-day celebration that welcomes the arrival of spring and the beginning of the new year. The celebration is mostly considered an opportunity for “renewal and rebirth” for those who participate.

Students missed out on 2022 celebrations due to the delay of last year’s spring semester, due to rising COVID-19 cases. The pandemic also resulted in cancellations of past Lunar New Year celebrations in mainland China.

But this year, students who celebrate the Lunar New Year said that a shift to increased and more collaborative student involvement in the planning process improved the celebration, making the festivities feel more authentic and welcoming.

Soo Yeon Hong, an assistant teaching professor in S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and member of its Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) committee, also said the student groups she worked with were eager to participate in activities this year.

Binaka Norris, a senior advertising major at SU and a student co-chair on the Newhouse IDEA committee, said student engagement and accessibility were at the forefront of the committee’s planning for its Lunar New Year celebration. Much of the celebrations’ strength came from seeking and implementing input from people who have a cultural understanding of the celebration, she said.

“We work around a lot of different schedules, requests and the actual materials needed to hold the event, which can be tricky, but we make a point to never think of accessibility as an afterthought or something to work around,” Norris said. “The heart of accessibility is knowing that everyone and their needs are valuable, then enthusiastically respecting them and their needs.”

Hong also emphasized the importance of engaging more directly and valuing the perspectives and involvement of students with cultural ties to the celebration, adding that she enjoyed the event being in person and in a popular gathering space.

“We brought this event to where students are,” Hong said. “You didn’t feel excluded or separated from the students.”

Since Jan. 21, SU has hosted three events to celebrate the 2023 Lunar New Year, including Saturday’s Chinese Student Union Lunar New Year Celebration at the Schine Student Center, Sunday’s celebration in the Esports gaming room, and Monday afternoon’s celebration event at Food.com.

The IDEA committee’s goal for cultural events like these, Norris said, is to be available and welcoming to members of the university community who already understand diverse cultures as well as those who don’t or who haven’t had the chance to get involved.

The Chinese Students and Scholars Association, a non-profit student organization which organizes cultural activities for all members of the university community, was founded to bring Chinese students at SU together while spreading Chinese culture to the university community, according to an SU news press release. In fall 2022, the CSSA hosted a mid-autumn festival and is hosting its annual gala on Friday.

Jet Wang, a freshman majoring in entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, said he felt “iffy” when he first came to SU and didn’t see cultural events or celebrations. But after hearing about the upcoming Lunar New Year celebration on Friday, Wang said the university’s efforts to celebrate made SU’s Asian student population feel more at home on campus.

“It shows that SU cares, and that they know how important it is that Lunar New Years should be celebrated,” Wang said. “It’s something that everyone can celebrate, get to know different cultures, and make new friends.”

Hong said that in ensuring students like Wang don’t experience roadblocks to finding a cultural community and ways to celebrate, accessibility was a focus for this year’s celebration of the Lunar New Year. She said she enjoyed observing students’ reactions at Monday’s event, which included students who are Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, as well as people from non-Asian cultures, she said.

Hong, who helped coordinate the Monday afternoon’s celebration, said the overall response to the events excited her. Students were better able to connect with each other and with their culture while at SU, she said.

Attendees received red envelopes, called Lai see in Cantonese, filled with candy and with a drawing of this year’s zodiac, a rabbit, on the front, Hong said..

SU will host three more events this Friday to celebrate the Lunar New Year, including an annual gala hosted by the Chinese Students and Scholars Association at the Goldstein Auditorium in the Schine Student Center and a Lunar New Year celebration event at 10 pm hosted by Orange After Dark, the SU chapter of the Sigma Psi Zeta sorority and the Center for International Services in room 304 in Schine.

“These events are meant to celebrate those parts of the community, educate those interested in learning more and extend a hand to those who aren’t aware or aren’t on board yet,” said Norris. “We are calling people in rather than calling people out.”

Published on January 26, 2023 at 12:17 am

Contact Dominic: dcchiapp@syr.edu | @DominicChiappo2