The Miscellany News

Vassar’s Office of International Services (OIS) and the Vassar International Students Association’s (VISA) annual Kaleidoscope event kicked off Wednesday, Nov. 15, celebrating the College’s cultural diversity in a week of food, activities and education. 

“Kaleidoscope culminated from ongoing conversations [in 2005] between our office and the Vassar International Students Association,” said Director of International Services Andrew Meade in a written correspondence. “We agreed we wanted there to be multiple, overlapping elements so that people would be presented with many lenses through which to view culture.”

Eighteen years after the event’s creation, Kaleidoscope continues to provide international students with the opportunity to honor their respective cultures and share their experiences with the student body over the course of the week of celebration. “The purpose of this event is to celebrate all of our different cultures,” OIS intern Dina Sara Custo ’27 said. “When we are together, it makes us better and stronger as humans.”

Because the OIS and VISA host seven events over the course of eight days in November, the groups begin preparation for Kaleidoscope in mid-October, starting with the organization of various artistic, athletic and intellectual competitions. 

Prior to the flag ceremony, students were treated to a buffet of food from different cultures prepared by local Poughkeepsie restaurants. From sesame chicken to pita bread, students filled up their plates in the College Center before heading to the Villard Room to enjoy the ceremony. 

To kick off the event, students from 36 countries participated in the flag ceremony, during which they proudly debuted their country’s banner, many wearing traditional clothing from their cultures. After sharing an interesting fact about their nation, students announced, “May peace prevail on Earth” to the audience in their country’s native language. 

“International students come from different countries and this is where our differences become our uniquenesses,” Jane Xu ’26 said. “That is very valuable. That is why this event is called the ‘Kaleidoscope.’ We’re seeing different magnificent pictures through one lens.”

During the ceremony, pictures taken by Vassar students that were entered into the Kaleidoscope photography competition were projected on the wall, depicting scenes from a variety of countries and cultures. The OIS and VISA gather judges for the contest’s two categories, “people and culture” and “landscape,” and then allow students to vote at the event on the best image during the “people’s choice” category.  

After students debuted their flags, the World’s Got Talent event began, during which more than 50 students performed for an audience over the course of 10 acts, exhibiting their artistic abilities through song, dance and more. Through multiple rounds of reaching out to student organizations directly, as well as sending out general invitations to join the event, OIS plans out the event’s program well in advance.

“I loved planning World’s Got Talent,” Custo said. “It was really fun reaching out to people and seeing who was signing up.”

Groups such as Vassar’s Korean Dance Crew, which showcased its members’ skills with five dance numbers, were able to share their hard work with their peers through the competition. 

Vassar students were also encouraged to enter a dessert cook off, where participants were tasked with preparing international treats that were judged by students, professors and staff, in addition to members of the Friendship Program. “[The Friendship Program] entails members of the campus/broader community that ‘host’ one or more first year internationals each year,” said Meade. 

 In addition to Kaleidoscope, OIS and VISA also sponsored an International World Trivia Night at The Mug on Thursday, Nov. 16, and organized a student soccer tournament—the Soccer World Cup—on Sunday, Nov. 19. The winning team was awarded with custom shirts with the participant’s name on the back. 

Students noted that they appreciated the sense of community that the Kaleidoscope events create on campus, particularly for international students.

“It has been so long since we have seen examples of our identity,” said Nina Li ’24, an international student from China. “It’s exciting to be together with people that share our beliefs and people who know why we care so much about our international identities.”