Halo-Halloween | Photo by Rose Taylor | The Wright State Guardian
To celebrate Halloween, the Asian and Native American Center and Asian Student Association hosted a Halo-Halloween event, with the primary themes being Filipino culture.
Halo-Halloween
The name of the event comes from a Filipino dessert called halo-halo. The desert is primarily made with a base of shaved ice and evaporated milk, and can include a variety of toppings. For Halo-Halloween, ASA provided toppings of coconut strips, coconut gel, sweetened beans, vanilla ice cream with ube paste and pandan jelly cubes.
Lumpia Queen, a local Filipino business, catered for the event to provide lumpia– Filipino egg rolls– and pancit– Filipino stir-fried noodles. Students were able to enjoy the variety of cultural food throughout the night.
This year was ASA’s second time hosting Halo-Halloween, and Ayumi Enorme, President of ASA, stated that this year’s planning process went smoothly.
“Our Leadership Board worked hard to organize and run this event, and ASA General Body Members helped to prepare for the event as well,” Enorme said.
The event was a resounding success, with Student Union 019 packed almost to the brim with partygoers wearing a wide variety of costumes.
Some activities included karaoke– a classic Filipino party game– and an interactive BINGO game where people needed to interact with Filipino students and members of ASA to fill out their cards.
Overall, attendees were able to meet and bond with members of ANA and ASA while embracing Filipino culture.
The Asian and Native American Center
Nicolyn Woodcock, the Director of ANA and staff advisor for ASA, was hardly involved in the planning of Halo-Halloween and was proud of how ASA members worked to make the event a reality.
“That event really belongs to the Asian Student Association,” Woodcock said. “They ran the idea by me.”
With the Covid-19 pandemic halting activity on campus for months, ASA was forced into a cookie-cutter schedule in which they hosted the same events over and over. After Woodcock began working on-campus in Spring of 2023, she has been able to watch the leadership of ASA evolve as they work to host more unique events for students to enjoy each year.
ANA works to provide a safe, open environment for Asian and Indigenous students and faculty on campus.
“The Asian and Native American Center advocates for, celebrates, and empowers Asian and Native American communities on campus… through storytelling, critical analysis, and leadership development, we will strengthen the voices of our unheard and complex lived experiences and unravel the social injustices we face,” ANA’s Engage page says.
Filipino culture
While Filipino Heritage Month has ended, embracing and learning more about Filipino culture, as well as its history with the U.S., is vital. Members of ASA and ANA have made efforts to recognize Southeast Asian cultures as a whole.
When recognizing the intricate and sometimes overwhelming amount of Asian and Indigenous culture, deliberate steps are an important part of the process to represent all cultures accurately and often.
“It can be a little bit overwhelming to try and capture everything, so sometimes my instinct is to do more with less and keep it to some degree generalized,” Woodcock said.
Halo-Halloween was one of the events that worked to represent Southeast Asian culture, and it also took advantage of Filipino Heritage Month that took place throughout October.
“As a Filipino person myself and ASA’s resident, I’ve always made an effort to educate about Filipino culture and include it in ASA’s programming. I think all Asian cultures should be recognized more on campus, but especially Southeast Asian cultures– I’m very grateful ASA can be a part of this effort,” Enorme said.
Where to learn more and get involved
Students who want to get involved with ASA or with the Center as a whole can visit their Engage pages.
ANA is hosting a three-day festival from Nov. 15 to 17 which will focus on Indigenous culture, called the R.E.A.C.H Fest.
Getting involved with other cultures is incredibly important, especially during your college years– everyone is encouraged to attend the Fest, and any events hosted by ANA and ASA!
