ASDA Diversity & Inclusion Committee Hosts GSDM’s Third Annual Multicultural Night

On Wednesday, April 19, 2017, members of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) Diversity & Inclusion Committee at the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) hosted the School’s third annual Multicultural Night in the Hiebert Lounge. The purpose of the event was to celebrate and appreciate the various cultures and ethnicities within the GSDM community.

The emcees for the evening—Nikkita Muwanguzi DMD 17 and Wenyu Qu DMD 17—kicked off the event by greeting the audience in 14 different languages before inviting the guests to enjoy a Middle Eastern meal catered by the Black Seed Café and Minarawah Indian Restaurant. Throughout the evening, guests could visit the Henna table for a temporary tattoo or locate their home countries on a large map using a variety of colored pins. Dr. Hesham Nouh, Clinical Assistant Professor and Director of Predoctoral Prosthodontics & Restorative Dentistry in the Department of General Dentistry, delivered the keynote address. After dinner, the approximately 170 attendees enjoyed music and dance performances featuring cultures from around the globe, as well as a diverse cultural fashion show.

There were four featured dance performances. First was the Indian Dance Group made up of students Rutu Patel AS 17, Vibha Babhar AS 17, Mansi Shah AS 17, and Pooja Palaksha AS 17. They were followed by the Aftab Dance Group, a Boston Persian Dance Group, who performed colorful dances which included intricate body movements. Next was a group known as The Afrobeat Dance Crew, made up of Debbie Desravines DMD 17, Sally Jacob DMD 17 and Nikkita Muwanguzi DMD 17, who performed a fusion of African, Hip Hop, and Stepping. The final dance performance was a traditional Indian dance known as the Bhangra and Garba dance, performed by AS 18 students.

The first musical performance came from Rob Baldi DMD 19, who delivered an acoustic guitar solo. Next was a singing and guitar performance by Kushal Zinzuvadia AS 18, Ahad Ahmed AS 18, Maulik Patel AS 18, and Gunjan Patel AS 18. Seyede Mahdien Eshaghi AS 18 played the traditional Indian Sitar, followed by the last performance of the night, a piano solo from Alicia Tavares DMD 18.

The fashion show closed out the evening, with students modeling clothing from:

China: The traditional Qipao was worn by Yangfan Tabesh AS 18, Caixia Lan AS 18, and Xiopeng Hu AS 18.

Romania: Alina Ploaie DMD 20 modeled traditional folk attire.

Palestine: The Palestinian Thoub was worn by Farah Al-Ayyoabi DMD 19. The Thoub is a full dress and with long sleeves, characterized by colorful embroidery on the chest, arm, or hem areas.

Iran: Two different cultural outfits from Iran were showcased; traditional dress was worn by Padideh Alizadeh AS 17, Mahzad Koochaki DMD 17, and Maryam Maghsoudloo AS 17; and a Kurdish Iranian dress was worn by Sally Jacob DMD 17.

Liberia: Eshere Gbarbea DMD 19 modeled modern African attire from West Africa.

Morroco: Lorena Corzo PERIO 18 walked in the Caftan, a traditional Moroccan dress with long sleeves and intricate embroidery.

America: Neha Juneja AS 18 and Lindsey Janof DMD 19 modeled two traditional American dresses.

Nepal: The Sari, a traditional outfit from Nepal, was modeled by Namrata Sharma AS 18.

Pakistan: Two outfits from Pakistan, the Shalwar Kameez and Kurta Shalwar, were worn by Hajra Mujtaba AS 18 and Ahad Ahmed AS 18, respectively.

India: The final country to showcase their cultural attire was India, as Alex Lopez DMD 19, Nidhi Desai AS 18, Sukhpreet Rana AS 18, Nikhar Shah AS 18, Shreyas Rana AS 18, and Preetinder Sidhu AS 17 modeled six different outfits. The outfits were known as Chunnidar Kurta Chunni, Chaniya Choli, Punjabi Phulkari, Coti Kurta, Paghdi Punjabi Kurta, and the Anarkali.

ASDA Diversity & Inclusion Committee Chair Nikkita Muwanguzi DMD 17 said, “I am happy to see that this event has grown tremendously since it started 3 years ago; it is amazing to see the Boston University Dental Community coming together to celebrate different cultures. This is a new-found tradition that has been warmly accepted.”

“Nikkita and Wenyu did an excellent job organizing the School’s third Multicultural Night,” said Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter. “I am proud of the students, faculty, and staff who participated to celebrate the various cultures and ethnicities within the GSDM community.”

Photos are available on Flickr.