When Symbat Payayeva first came to MSU, she found herself far away from her family in Kazakhstan.
“The first year was really awful,” said Payayeva, an economics senior.
But since that first year, Payayeva, the president of the International Students Association, has found a different type of home.
Away from family on cultural holidays, Payayeva has learned to celebrate with other international students, combating homesickness and acquiring other traditions from diverse cultures.
“It is a good thing there is diversity (here) from around the world,” Payayeva said. “I can’t feel homesick here.”
The International Students Association isn’t the only student organization promoting different cultures in East Lansing.
Within a sea of 50,000 students at MSU are independent communities promoting their cultures, traditions and heritage.
Domestic or international, students hold onto elements of their own cultures while educating others, absorbing commonalities between backgrounds and celebrating diversity.
Food industry management junior Ameko Stevenson is all about spreading the word about Latino culture.
Stevenson said he tells friends and creates movement in society to educate the community about Latino cultures, bringing campus together as a whole.
“For the better of the MSU community,” Stevenson said. “People can come together, socialize and learn.”
Finding community through heritage
The Coalition of Indian Undergraduate Students educates MSU students about Indian culture along with providing a supportive community for Indian students.
CIUS annually celebrates a recognized day of service in Lansing in honor of Mahatma Gandhi. The organization also puts on Satrang, a celebration of unity among Indians through dance and music to educate about the country’s culture.
The show is MSU’s largest student-run production and took place Saturday celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Satrang, which translates to “seven colors,” consists of 10 performances that showcased different aspects of Indian culture and several elements of American culture.
With more than 20 students participating in each dance in unison, the audience was taken on a cinematic journey in time.
The combination of strength, vibrance and excitement as the dancers performed together as one, along with brightly colored dazzling costumes and modern Bollywood fusion music, overjoyed the audience as the energy created by the dancers poured across the stage onto audience members encouraging them to participate in the tradition and identify with the music.
As most audience members were left mesmerized, others found the combination of traditional music and dance familiar and close to their hearts, alluring them to traditional and modern Indian culture.
Philanthropy and Public Relations Chair for CIUS and human biology junior Jay Shah believes students of all ethnic backgrounds can identify with Satrang.
“You might not understand the music, but you get a taste of the emotions on stage,” Shah said, adding Satrang is a way to introduce students who aren’t Indian to tradition and culture.
This year marks the third Satrang performance Shah has performed in alongside CIUS and sees a few changes, the largest being the size of Satrang, allowing many people per dance, Shah said.
A first generation American, Shah says his parents have instilled cultural and ethnic values that he admires and wishes to keep throughout his life.
“I’m going to make sure my kids dance,” Shah said. “It’s so much fun and a stress reliever.”
Finding community through religion
Providing students the opportunity to explore the cultural and ethnic background of Judaism, the Jewish Student Union serves as an umbrella organization, united and funded with ASMSU and the Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish Student Center, supporting the programs of several social, cultural and religious groups.
President of JSU, comparative cultures and politics junior Nate Strauss, has found a second home within JSU.
“I am involved with the Jewish community in metro Detroit,” Strauss said. “It’s a second nature to seek out a community and start to get involved.”
Strauss said he enjoys when he has an opportunity to take his knowledge to educate others.
“I get really excited to talk about my culture and traditions,” Strauss said. “Opening people’s interactions with diverse people in the world.”
As limbs within the body of MSU, Strauss said all the organizations come together and work as an overall body to promote diversity and inclusion on campus.
Students who come from hometowns that are not as diverse as MSU are left with a disadvantage, and allowing student organizations like JSU to promote diversity allows students to learn and experience other cultures, Strauss said.
“I think that a lot of the time when people are uneducated or unaware, it’s because they didn’t reach out to a group of people to educate themselves or others,” Strauss said.
Embracing culture and diversity, Strauss doesn’t view JSU as a separate organization from the student body at MSU.
“We are all Spartans,” Strauss said. “There is a lot of different ways people identify.”
Finding community through education
Culturas de las Razas Unidas is part of the MSU Council of Racial and Ethnic Students Latino student organization.
CRU functions as the cohesive voice for the Latino community by advocating political, social, cultural and academic issues that affect the Chicano and Latino community at MSU.
The organization fosters an environment for students to come together to socialize and learn by increasing self-awareness through cooperative exchanges of ideas, viewpoints, culture and information.
After attending CRU twice, Stevenson said he felt like a friend after the willingness CRU has to teach new things, embracing community and family togetherness.
Now as ASMSU representative for CRU, Stevenson said CRU. tries to add their own twist by celebrating all Latino culture and within each event, educating and creating a core group to make the community more culturally sensitive.
“Don’t limit yourself to your own ethnic background,” Stevenson said. “You are limiting yourself to your own comfort zone, and you’ll never grow and learn new things.”
CRU hosts annual events celebrating Latino culture including Cesar Chavez’s birthday and Selena Day on March 31, along with Brown Pride, an event celebrating the Latino and Chicano heritage, and Latin Xplosion, a cultural showcase of Latino talent held at the Wharton Center.
Vice chair and social relations and policy junior Naledi Makhene remembers the first time she attended Latin Xplosion.
“It was cool to see what the culture has to offer,” Makhene said. “It’s cool exposing to people who have never seen it and to see your friends expose Latino talent or entertainment.”
In addition to annual events, CRU is also linked with the College Assistance Migrant Program in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, encouraging international students to become involved.
Finding community through sharing
As an official on-campus organization, promoting and enhancing international awareness, culture and diversity, the MSU International Students Association is the largest international students organization on campus.
Working closely with the Office for International Students and Scholars, ISA connects with more than 5,300 international students from 129 different countries and 23 cultures.
Payayeva said she believes that culture and tradition are very connected to the nation.
“Without tradition, there is no nation,” Payayeva said. “Tradition gives a sense of identity.”
As the only female international student from Kazakhstan in her program, Payayeva feels a sense of positive pressure and encouragement to show the MSU community Kazakhstan culture through dance.
ISA is affiliated with several other cultural student organizations, creating a number of options for student involvement and grabbing the attention of domestic students, as well as international, by mingling at ISA or other cultural student organization events.
“American students become e-board members of different cultures (than their own) because they are so interested in the culture,” Payayeva said.
ISA engages with the MSU community over international issues through festival workshops, displays, seminars, food festivals and active participation.
International student and economics senior Ruth Awor feels that ISA provides change from monotony of student life.
“It’s good to know there are people different from you that celebrate diversity and help learn about different people and cultures,” Awor said.
Like Payayeva, Awor said she feels a sense of responsibility to inform and educate students about her culture in Uganda.
“(Culture) reminds you of where you’re from, and (culture) becomes more special for you,” Awor said. “I’m always involved, it comes a special part of the community.”
