Hosted by MSU’s University Activities Board (UAB), attendees were encouraged to celebrate by creating cultural crafts, trying new food and watching "Crazy Rich Asians."

Social work junior and an outreach and inclusion coordinator for UAB Torrie Boykins said hosting this event to celebrate the Lunar New Year is important because it helps represent different cultures students may be a part of.

"MSU is a PWI and I think it's important that we represent people who might not always be as represented as the majority, and just shining a light on stuff that might be ignored," Boykins said.

Environmental microbiology senior Paige Sirak said this event is important because it brings awareness to different cultures.

"I think celebrating Lunar New Year is important because it celebrates (the) new year in other cultures," Sirak said. "So while I myself might not celebrate Lunar New Year, I love to talk to people who do celebrate it and learn about their culture and why it's important to them."

Human biology freshman Aniyah Thompson said this experience plays a significant role in educating attendees about the cultures represented in MSU’s population.

"Honestly, if you're not around people or part of that community, most people probably don't know about it," Thompson said. "I probably only know about (this) because I've kind of always made a point just to learn about different cultures because I thought it was cool and interesting to learn about."

For Thompson, wanting to try new things also played a large role in attending.

"It's just a fun thing to do," Thompson said. "Me and my friends try to just do the random events around campus, because then it gets you seeing new things, meeting new people, trying new things."

For political science freshman Madyson Foster, a personal connection encouraged her to go to the event.

"I chose to come out to this event because I do have Asian family, but they're overseas, so I don't celebrate Lunar New Year here," Foster said. "But I think it's fun to kind of also just really experience it, even if it's just on campus."

Whether they celebrated this holiday from their own culture or learned about it from an outside perspective, Boykins hoped that students enjoyed the experience. 

"I hope they have fun, one, but also, just appreciating the culture and (having) a space where everybody can enjoy that," Boykins said.