The NE Campus International Festival was canceled this spring due to the organizer’s difficulty in planning the event and getting approvals due to Texas Senate Bill 17 regulations.
“The International Festival will not happen this year,” said World Language Department Chair and International Festival Committee’s Department Chair Humberto Rodriguez.
He was on faculty development leave in the fall and couldn’t meet with other organization members to begin planning the event until the spring semester.
“It was at this time that I discovered that a new process was in place districtwide to ensure compliance with SB-17,” Rodriguez said. “I felt like my campus administration was very supportive of the festival, but due to this new process, we lost time planning.”
SB-17 restricts certain Diversity, Equity and Inclusion activities in public institutions of higher education. TCC’s website states cultural heritage events are allowed, but any faculty or staff involvement in planning or presenting these events should be evaluated.
“District policy requires that we go through a checklist to make sure our event is SB-17 compliant,” Rodriguez said. “In the end, there was not enough time to plan the festival like we wanted to, and we decided to try again next year.”
Rafael Thompson has been a student at NE for two years and said he was always eager to take part in the International Festival’s activities.
“It was a day everyone can come together, eat food, talk about different cultures and just enjoy the vibes,” Thompson said. “It’s not really fair to new students who didn’t get to experience the things before.”
Miles Deleon started at TCC last fall and said he has attended a few events on NE Campus but nothing similar to how the International Festival was described.
“I’m not gonna sugarcoat it — it’s ridiculous,” Deleon said. “I’ve noticed since the whole DEI thing they’ve [TCC] had to pull back.”
Deleon said he hoped the event can be planned for next year after some time passes and SB-17 is better understood.
“When I attend something like that, I end up getting to be more sociable [by] getting to know more people,” Deleon said. “Shocker, when you talk to normal people, it opens up your horizons. It makes you a lot more open-minded.”
The Interna tional Festival has featured performances and presentations highlighting different cultures across the globe.
“The committee goes through great efforts to bring performers that are engaging, fun and educate the students on the cultural significance of their performance,” Rodriguez said.
Last year, students could celebrate the colorful Hindu holiday of Holi, watch the JK Wong Academy perform kung fu and dance with the Bandan Koro West African Drum and Dance Ensemble.
“It is unfortunate that the school was not allowed to have the festival,” Director of Bandan Koro Tony Browne said. “It removes the opportunities for people of different cultural backgrounds to connect and share with another.”
Bandan Koro has attended many of NE Campus’ International Festivals in the past, and Browne said he’d seen how their production positively impacted students.
“Our performances teach the values of community, collective participation, communication, active listening, pride and teamwork,” Browne said. “While building a community in the very space that we are performing, [we’re] bringing people of different backgrounds and belief systems together to share in a celebratory and energizing presentation.”
NE dance group Movers Unlimited also participated in the festival. Christopher Garcia, a Movers Unlimited member, recalled last year’s drum dance they demonstrated.
“It comes from Korean culture, but just looking at it, you wouldn’t really see that it’s Korean,” Garcia said.
He said this is why the International Festival was important because it gave students an opportunity to see where the inspiration of today’s culture originated.
Dancer Vanessa Lamas agreed with Garcia, stating she was frustrated with SB-17’s restrictions and how it was limiting students’ opportunities.
“A lot of people don’t know, but a lot of hip-hop comes from everywhere, it’s a lot of Black community and it’s a lot of Hispanic community,” Lamas said. “If you take that away, then what are you left with?”
Garcia and Lamas were joined by two other members Alan Guitierrez and Joshua Garcia. All of them said they were looking forward to performing this year and were shocked to learn it was no longer planned.
“The International Cultural Festival gave me a really good opportunity to learn about different African dances, dances from Asia, and as a dancer, that’s really valuable to me,” Joshua Garcia said. “You can’t separate culture from dance.”
