Plates overflowed with everything from guava barbecue pork pastelillos to spicy tuna rolls at Haverford College’s Affinity Group Food Fest last Saturday, Dec. 6. Students from across the bi-co gathered in Founders Hall that afternoon to enjoy the food, music, and culture shared by eight different Haverford-based affinity groups and clubs.
In participation of the event were the Association of Latin American Students (ALAS), the Pan Asian Resource Center (PARC), Global Chinese Connection (GCC), the Korean Culture Club (KCC), the Japanese Culture Club (JCC), the Jewish Student Union (JSU), the Puerto Rican Student Alliance (PRSA), and the Tea Tasting Club. A full menu was provided upon entry, guiding attendees through the unique gastronomic experience.
Students clustered around tall tables, sharing food between their plates and washing down their gluten-free empanadas with rugelach and boba tea. In between bites, they danced bachata and salsa to the music coming from the ALAS table’s personal speaker. There was a vibrant energy of community and conviviality, as attendees chatted amongst themselves about upcoming finals and their shared desire to return to home-cooked meals.
“It’s a good way to relax right before the final week of classes with friends. [We are] bonding over food, and becoming more conscious of the other AMO groups on campus,” said Michaelina O’Rourke, a Haverford senior and member of PARC.
This was one of the semester’s first gatherings of the Haverford College affinity organizations. Lyali Pereda Figueroa, a Haverford senior and co-head of the PRSA, explained, “there is an AMO coalition, but it doesn’t happen as frequently as it should that we all get together and do stuff as a collective.”
Because of this, many of the affinity group leaders were pleased with the effort to make the event happen, finding value in such opportunities for cross-cultural connection. As stated by Ninel Páez Carrión (BMC ‘26), one of PRSA’s other co-heads, “I thought it was super well-prepared. It was really cool seeing everyone’s own cuisines and being able to taste it all. I loved seeing the cultural resemblances between the other hispanic groups and the way that we share similar foods.”
The event wound down with empty trays on every group’s table and plates left wiped clean. Students left Founder’s Hall with satisfied stomachs and a newfound knowledge of the multiculturalism present of Haverford’s campus.
