Newsletter

ASU New Years: A Community Celebration

By Eva Jo McIlraith

April 11, 2025

Over Sunday, February 23rd, Hamilton College’s Asian Student Union (ASU)  hosted their 3rd annual New Year’s event, curating a wide range of cultural games, food, language immersion, and community building. ASU President Hana Dolan noted that the event was one of the largest celebrations of Asian student life on campus, drawing upwards of 200 students; “We are on a PWI campus where students are separated from their families and communities . . . it's so important, to build community on this campus.” Students were seen dropping coins into water, practicing their calligraphy, and receiving henna.

Numerous booths lined the walls of the Annex, each representing a different country and its new years celebration. Each of the booths provided a new cultural delight, including food from local restaurants including Pho Vietnam, Red Samurai, Lotus Garden, Mitsuba Ramen, and Taj Mahal, and activities like karaoke, ddakji, hoop throwing, and other traditional festival games. Each booth was designed and brought to life by ASU members based on feedback received from the student body, making the event a reflection of the unique traditions from students’ home countries. It’s an event for the students and of the students, Dolan noted, “ASU covers so many cultures that have their own distinctions, it’s beautiful to celebrate so many at the same time.”

This year, ASU partnered with Hamilton’s East Asian Language & Literature (EALL) department to draw faculty and staff to the event alongside students. Professors joined in on the planning and organizing, bringing their own experience and flair to the occasion. “Professors’ kids were running around and doing karaoke, one professor even brought her mom,” Dolan recalled. The energetic presence of so many ages adds a multi-generational focus to the event, providing students with the wisdom and cultural experience of the generations before and after them.

A definite highlight of the event was the student and faculty speakers. Gori Goto ’28 spoke on her personal experience with Japanese culture, Dasomie Kim ’25 on her Korean heritage, Angie Liu ’25 and Irena Chen ’25 on China and Hong Kong, Tarun Kowar ’27 spoke on growing up in India. They were joined by professors Zhuoyi Wang of the Chinese Department and Masaaki Kamiya of the Japanese Department, who spoke on their experiences as Asian professors on campus and the incredible work of the EALL Department. With the contributions of the speakers, the event not only provided true cultural experiences, but also grounded these events in the context of their creation and the importance they have to those that celebrate them.

“Most of all, it felt so homey to hear so many Asian languages in the space,” reflected Dolan. “it’s something you don’t realize you’re missing as an Asian student . . . it really combats the cultural homesickness that we talk about all the time in ASU, a home away from home feel. That’s the goal of the event.”