Sounds of pop music and cheers of students filled the air on Thursday evening at Georgia College & State University’s (GCSU) first ever International Fashion Show.
This event aimed to celebrate and explore the different heritages making up Georgia College’s student body, with individuals walking the runway in outfits from or inspired by their native cultures.
“I feel like [this event] is important because we can share our cultural values with everyone else. It’s a way to be seen, since [Georgia College] is a majority Caucasian campus, [people of color] might not be able to relate to some things,” said Nixie Sterling, a GCSU student and model in the fashion show. “So, encouraging everybody to participate in stuff that we knew growing up, it’s just a nice feeling.”
Sterling was one of only three models in the fashion show, proudly walking down the runway in a dashiki dress. A dashiki is a brightly colored and loose-fitting garment worn by many in West African cultures, with Sterling’s dashiki being from Ghana, specifically.
The other student models who participated, Karoline Tompkins and Imani Cooper, wore outfits from the cultures of China and Senegal, respectively.
“Today I chose to patriciate because originally I am from China and I was adopted, so doing stuff like this helps me reconnect with my culture,” said Tompkins, who modeled a qipao, a traditional dress that has been worn by Chinese women for centuries.
Cooper strutted a matching blue top and skirt from West Africa, and wore makeup inspired by the Amani tribe in Senegal.
According to GCSU’s 2023 National College Health Assessment, 85.7% of Georgia College’s student population self-identified as white. Only 7.3% of the student body self-identified as African American, 6.1% were Hispanic or Latino, and 2.4% indicated that they were of Asian descent.
With such a small population of people of color on campus, Erin Finnegan, vice president of Georgia College’s Campus Activities Board, explained why it’s so important to have events like the International Fashion Show to promote diversity on campus.
“[Georgia College] has a lot of great qualities, and is able to [help with] diversity on campus… But it’s harder to see because these organizations [such as the Latino Student Association and International Club] don’t have really big names here [like they do at other schools],” Finnegan said. “We wanted to help students know that these resources and clubs are available for them, and to help get their names out there.”
Finnegan also made it clear that the Campus Activities Board turned to organizations like the Latino Student Association (LSA) and the International Club for guidance on how to go about holding the event to ensure that everyone’s voices and perspectives could be heard and respected.
GCSU’s Campus Activities Board hosted and organized the event, with the Latino Student Association and the International Club sponsoring the fashion show.
For more information on the Campus Activities Board and the Latino Student Association, please email them at cab@gcsu.edu and lsa@gcsu.edu. To contact GCSU’s International; Club, visit its Instagram page, @gc_internationalclub.