Events celebrate the cultures of UM-Dearborn

Minutes later, members of UM-Dearborn’s Albanian American Student Association took to the floor and performed a dance routine. Many people raised their cellphones and cameras to capture the dance, which inspired plenty of audience members to join in.

It’s all part of Global Fest, an annual tradition at UM-Dearborn that uses food, music, entertainment and interactive activities to celebrate cultural diversity on campus.

Students, faculty, staff and community members flooded Kochoff on March 15 to participate in the popular tradition.

But Global Fest wasn’t the only cultural event that took place at UM-Dearborn in recent weeks. Eboo Patel, founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core, visited campus on March 22 to share his inspirational message of encouraging leadership through the inclusiveness of interfaith cooperation.

Patel’s message coincided with the University’s goal of inclusion, and he commended UM-Dearborn students for their interfaith work.

“We are mad impressed by you all, mad impressed,” said Patel, who served on President Barack Obama’s inaugural Advisory Council of the White House. “Keep doing what you’re doing. You’re doing a great job.”

He served on President Barack Obama’s inaugural Advisory Council of the White House. US News & World Report also named Patel one of America’s Best Leaders of 2009.

And to cap off the week, UM-Dearborn students performed their own rendition of “Hijabi Monologues.” The show told the true stories of Muslim American women through humor, seriousness and heartfelt emotion in order to dispel common misunderstandings about their life and culture. Students told simple stories of their ordinary lives played out against common stereotypes.