Photo by Andrew Daddio
Each fall, the ALANA Cultural Center hosts ALANAPalooza: a gathering that promotes and celebrates IJʿ’s multicultural organizations with student performances. This year’s event, on Sept. 7, filled ALANA’s patio with numerous voices — between promotions for multicultural clubs, students sang and joined in dance.
The event opened with a vocal solo from Keiona Williams ’24, who moved the crowd with her covers of “Let it Go” by James Bay and “Someone Like You” by Adele. Afterwards, the crowd joined in the Cupid Shuffle and the IJʿ Resolutions took to the stage for an a cappella show.
“You could feel the energy from the performers and attendees,” says Williams, who performed at the event for the second year.
Representatives from several multicultural student organizations then took to the microphone to promote their causes for equity and recruit new members.
“We aim to create a space in which people can have fun and get informed,” says Fredy Alvarado-Retana ’25 of Brothers. “We love to see our community grow, and we are so excited for the upcoming year.”
A circle of tabling from wellness resources and campus partners surrounded the stage, including representatives from Chapel House, counseling, and the offices of sustainability and off-campus study. In the center of the patio, Bill Luo ’26 and Vivian Jiang ’26 of Cha ’Gate — a Thought into Action entrepreneurship start-up that introduces Asian culture to the campus by selling bubble tea — served their drinks.
Combining food, music, and social gathering at ALANAPalooza relates to the center’s greater mission to foster inclusivity among students.
“At ALANAPalooza, we see a lot of students bringing their art in front of eyes, and it’s such an accepting and loving environment,” says attendee Vuong Hoang ’24. “It’s always inspiring to see music and art made by the student body in general, but especially from students from underrepresented backgrounds.”