Taylor Storlien-
Last weekend was the annual Diversity Ball, where students come together to “celebrate diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging of Gustavus students,” Senior and DLC Secretary Celeste Thalhammer said. During the week leading up to D-ball, the Diversity Leadership Council collaborates with other student organizations to help put on events. Last week, there was PASO Pool Day, OLAS El Campeonatito, CAB Food Truck, WAC x SRF x GWiL Women are Funny comedy event, and PASO’s Africa Night.
Diversity Ball is coordinated by the Diversity Leadership Council Executive Board as well as the DLC Events Committee and is extensively planned a few months in advance. To those who haven’t attended, D-Ball is where “Every year awards are given out to students who are passionate and dedicated to advocating for DEIB issues here at Gustavus,” Thalhammer said. The evening included a dinner, awards ceremony, and student performances, and then it ended with a dance and a professional DJ.
The performances included AfroSteppers, Waking Hours, and a band that Junior Cristina Sirbu put together last minute, that “…consisted of current and graduated gusties as well as some St. Peter community members,” Sirbu said. Waking Hours performed original songs and Sirbu’s band performed “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor. Sophomore Vatuazenj Vang had seen AfroSteppers previously and enjoyed all of the performances: “Whatever it is, the group has this way of capturing the audience’s eyes and the way they move in sync is always so alluring. The second performance I wanted to highlight was the singing done with Cristina Sirbu and her band. Her voice is always so inspiring and powerful as it brings the entire crowd together. It always seems that whenever Cristina sings she integrates the vitality of the crowd with her serenades,” Vang said.
The Bruce A. Gray Diversity Honors Award was awarded to Vang, and this moment ended up being the most impactful for him: “At that moment, I had felt that this miraculous moment represented all the hard work I put into making Gustavus a better place for the future. Receiving my award was just a great honor that I was happy to receive and hopefully in the future, I want to continue working on making our community shine,” Vang said. Vang wasn’t the only student who was surprised when receiving an award. Sophomore Linnea Beckstrom was awarded “The Champion of Interfaith Award:” “Honestly I was really surprised and I was the first award announced so I didn’t really know what to do. I was really glad I didn’t have to give a speech! It felt really awesome though and I really appreciated getting recognized for my hard work,” Beckstrom said. She extends a huge thanks to DLC, MSA, AST, and a special shout-out to Tom Flunker, for helping her this year.
The night left many with strong emotions and memories. Senior Sudikshya Karki was nominated for DLC Champions, Cultural and Ethnic Understanding: “This award is given to students in an effort to recognize their commitment to fostering intercultural understanding and dialogue at Gustavus. I felt very emotional but enjoyed it a lot. It was very nice to see everyone come together and celebrate DEIB,” Karki said. First-year student and member of CAB, Mary Steffen attended her first Diversity Ball: “As a first-year student, it was awesome to see so many people come to this event to celebrate diversity. Nearly every table was full and everyone was so supportive of the performances, the award-winners, and of each other,” Steffen said.
Diversity Ball is an opportunity to celebrate DEIB – Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, and Belonging. It is “… all about recognizing and supporting passionate individuals who are advocates for DEIB, and thus the Center for Inclusive Excellence, as well as Diversity Leadership Council, comes together to create awards for certain individuals,” Sirbu said. Some of the awards that are given are the Elizabeth Coco Award, Bruce Gray Award, and Outstanding Senior and Freshman Award, along with many others. But as a whole, the event was a celebration of community: “Watching people interact with each other has made me realize the potential Gustavus Adolphus College has to offer. That night was a celebration of champions who fight to make this college a better place. And watching the praise and happiness that night made me realize that the smaller community of people fighting for campus are constantly growing,” Vang said.
Many enjoyed the dancing, “For me, my favorite part of the night was the dance, It was so much fun to spend time with my friends after such an inspiring event,” Steffen said. For seniors, it was a great end to the event: “My favorite part of the night was when seniors were recognized and when we all started dancing at the end. It felt really nice to see everyone dancing and celebrating the night together,” Karki said. Steffen said the “food was to die for” and many agreed that the food was delicious. Overall, Diversity Ball was a wonderful experience for many who went: “The food was great and the performances were definitely the highlight of the night. I will definitely go next year no matter if I get nominated and I would recommend others to go as well!” Beckstrom said.