The Iota chapter of Delta Phi Lamda Sorority, Inc. at Grand Valley State University hosted a night of entertainment, charity and cultural awareness during the seventh annual Global Gala.

Global Gala was free and open to the public. The cultural showcase included performances from the Belly Dance Club, Kpop Group Evolution, Sabrosísimo and the African Student Council.

‘It’s a cultural showcase that we host every year to promote diversity on campus at GVSU,” said Alyssa Ho, president of Delta Phi Lamda. “The point is to spread and promote the diversity that we have here at Grand Valley.”

Delta Phi Lamda is an Asian-interest sorority, however, it is not Asian exclusive, Ho said. She said that one of the sorority’s mission is to eradicate stereotypes about Asians.

“There are so many stereotypes out there, and so many people do not really acknowledge that those are not true, so the purpose of hosting these kind of events is that we are trying to break down the stereotypes that you see commonly in life,” Ho said.

Jay Park, president of KGE, Kpop Group Revolution, and Rachel Wilson, the vice president, said that Korean culture can be shared through K-pop.

“Korean pop music has a lot of culture in it,” Park said. “Through learning dances from Kpop music, we get to learn their culture, their language, their customs and their habits.“

Wilson said that an event like Global Gala may introduce students to groups they did not previously know existed on campus.

“It broadens your horizons,” Wilson said.

Many students are already familiar with Korean pop music through “Gangnam Style” by Psy or the group BIGBANG.

Ryan Bardusch, a member of KGE, said that while “Gangnam Style” and BIGBANG are a big part of Kpop there is more to it than that.

“Basically any genre that you can think of, you can cover in Kpop,” Bardusch said. “There is swing, there’s hip-hop, there’s cultural dance.”

The event was interactive and the audience was invited to participate in a photo contest as well as a dance competition.

The event included “Minute to Win it,” to see which side of the room could raise the most money for osteoporosis, Delta Phi Lamda’s national philanthropy, in one minute. They raised a total of $156.75.

GVSU alumnus Victor Pham came to campus for the event and said that he enjoyed it.

“An event like this is important because it shows different cultural groups on campus, and it shows how diverse we can we be,” Pham said. “It is about embracing diversity. I think that is important, especially here, where the demographic is 90 percent white and there’s not a lot of minorities. It’s good to celebrate the differences that we have.”

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