West Liberty University celebrated Carnaval on Tuesday, March 1 during their “Around the World” event by the Spices Club.

From 11-1 p.m. in the Union Ballroom, the WLU Spice Club celebrated Carnaval with dancing, beads, crepes and drinks. Those who attended were encouraged to wear costumes and masks that represented the Carnaval theme.

West Liberty’s Spices Club was established Jan. 30, 2009 and celebrates diversity on campus with the motto “Diversity is the Spice of Life.” Run by Ryan Glanville, coordinator of international programs and recruiting enrollment services, the event was open to all students on campus, but many members of the Spices Club made up the majority of the attendees.

One of these attendees was Siddhi Prabhanjan Mahatole, who was excited to be a part of the event. “Everyone was dressed up really fancy and I was so glad to see them. Ryan Glanville really planned it well and his excitement could be seen clearly,” Mahatole said.

Many students commented on the authentic crepes and other foods presented at the event. This is largely due to the fact that the crepes and pancakes were made by Russian students, Angelina and Mia. Another member of the Spices Club, Gopika Sampathkumar, said, “The turnout was great! Many students and staff joined the event and also everyone liked the traditional crepe. My favorite part of the event was the interaction with everyone. It was nice that we were able to interact with everyone and wear traditional outfits.”

During the event, the members of the Spices Club handed out ribbon pins with Ukraine’s flag colors to support Ukraine in their ongoing conflict with Russia.

Sampathkumar gave some background into how the event came about by saying, “This idea was by the International Center, and Spices joined them as this was a good opportunity to have more events happen on campus and educate about different cultures and traditions around the world.” This is the idea behind all events put on by the Spices Club. The club has previously presented events during International Education Month which celebrated Dia De Muertos and taught students how to play cricket. They have also encouraged West Liberty students to travel abroad by hosting meetings with students and staff who have traveled to different countries during their time in higher education.

All students and staff involved in the event were pleased with the turnout and hope to have more events like this in the future. As Mahatole said, “It was fun to be a part of it as really few events happen like this.”