Chinese New Year comes to Lee

The Chinese New Year was brought in with a bang on Lee University’s campus as students of all cultures and backgrounds celebrated the holiday on Monday, January 23, in the Centenary Room.

Junior Heather Park, the president of Asian Council, said she was astounded at the large turnout, and glad that so many students had gathered for the festivities.

“[This is a] continuing tradition,” Park said. “[We are] trying to bring attention to other festivities outside of traditional American lifestyles.”

Students present at the festivities were able to enjoy many different cultural aspects of Asia, such as a calligraphy booth, a zodiac calendar and a create-your-own-sushi table.

“[The sushi table] is kind of a throwback to Japanese culture,” Park said.

Besides these booths, the celebration also included a dragon dance performed by Lee students and a Karaoke show, called KTV.

“KTV really hit big last year, so we’re… doing that again,” Park said.

Members of Asian counsel also decorated the Centenary Room with numerous Asian decorations.

“All the decorations say ‘happy new year’ in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and a bunch of other [languages],” Park said.

Senior Kayleigh Duke, a member of Asian Counsels, said she was excited to participate in this year’s celebrations, as she has worked on numerous other Asian Counsel events during her time at Lee.

“I’ve been involved in Asian counsel since I was a freshman,” Duke said. “[I work] behind the scene with the smaller details.”

Duke said she hoped that students attending the event left with a greater appreciation of Asian culture.

“I hope that they get a newer awareness and learn something about Asian culture,” Duke said.