This week, Marist College is celebrating the annual Festival of Lights, Diwali, a sacred holiday to the Indian culture. Throughout the week, the Marist campus we will be having an Indian cultural exhibit, artifacts display, photographs, jewelry, and clothing. In addition, students will be demonstrating cultural art forms like Rangoli and mehendi (henna hand painting) along with bindi and tilak application. The week will be culminated with a closing celebration that will include a fashion show featuring models in Indian apparel, as well as Indian cuisine, music, and dancing.
"In my position at Marist College, I have had the honor of supervising numerous international graduate students from all over India and I have enjoyed learning from them and celebrating their culture." says Dede Hourican, Senior Support Specialist within the Academic Technology & eLearning office at Marist College. " It is very exciting for our community to be embracing this important cultural event with them making our students feel a little bit of their home. In 2013, I was lucky enough to travel to India and see many historic places including the Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. The experience was amazing and has helped me understand the beautiful culture even more. In an effort to expand Indian cultural awareness and the collaboration between institutions, my students, colleagues and I have been working to make OAE a place where Indian students and others celebrating Diwali around the world can share their stories, pictures, videos and more. "
To join the "myDiwali Celebration", select your institution, sign in using your institutional credentials and click "Join group". If you are sharing your celebrations on any social media sites, please use #mydiwali #my(insert your campus name).