Southern Utah University’s International Affairs held a multicultural celebration in honour of Helen Foster Snow on Wednesday, Nov. 12, in the Great Hall.
The multicultural event was free and open to the public. It featured speakers, singing, dances, and food. Performers at the event sang songs in different languages, including French, German and Bengali.
“My favorite performance was Percilla’s performance of a German song, even though she was sick while performing it; it still sounded great,” said attendee Ron Gabriel Mendoza.
Snow was a journalist who was born in Cedar City in 1907. She left for China in 1931 at just 23 years old and spent nearly ten years there. During those ten years, she journaled about the people. She conducted interviews, including one with Mao Zedong, who was the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party.
Snow helped build bridges and breach gaps between Chinese and American people through helping pave the way for study abroad and cultivating relationships with people from other parts of the world. In her time, she also worked with people from other countries, such as Korea and Japan.
SUU alumna Rownak Afza works in International Affairs and performed a song in her native language of Bengali.
“One of my colleagues sings in Spanish, and the other had to catch up to me in Bengali, which was a challenge to translate the song,” said Afza.
Speakers at the event shared their personal experiences studying abroad. Students who studied abroad in China talked about how amazing their experience was and how grateful they were for Snow and the work she did in the country.
“Myself and Helen Foster Snow share a lot of the same goals in that we both highly value bridging gaps and creating cultural connections and cultural relationships,” said Maddie Snarr, a senior at SUU who studied in the United Kingdom.
She continued saying that she has been able to use the connections she made overseas to expand her circle and share cultures. Helen’s example has inspired her to continue learning about cultures after she graduates from SUU.
Helen Foster Snow passed away in 1997, but her legacy lives on through the contributions she made.
