Coalition of East African student organizations to host third annual Peace in the East celebration

Students gather in front of Stillman Hall after last year’s Peace in the East on Sept. 29, 2023. Credit: Courtesy of Fatima Shauri

Various East African student associations will host their third annual collaborative event showcasing East African cultures through music, food, games and dance. 

Peace in the East will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday on the South Oval, having been organized by the Somali Students’ Association, Eritrean Student Association, North and South Sudanese Association and Ethiopian Student Organization. 

Fatima Shauri, vice president of the Somali Students Association and a fourth-year in international relations and diplomacy, said the event is an opportunity for student organizations that represent East Africa and the general campus population to come together to celebrate East African culture as one united entity. 

“Peace in the East is basically a big celebration or block party on OSU campus where all the student organizations that represent the East African countries come together and celebrate each others’ culture,” Shauri said. 

Every year, the event features authentic East African cuisine, cultural music and traditional dances, offering students the opportunity to experience the region’s heritage. Shauri said students can explore an assortment of cultures during the event, as many different traditions are displayed. 

“At the end, we all just dance in this big circle to each others’ music.” Shauri said. “I love it so much because I am able to immerse myself in their culture and learn how fun it is.” 

Soliana Tadesse, vice president of the Eritrean Student Association and a fourth-year in industrial engineering, said beyond creating an exciting experience for students, Peace in the East also fosters interconnectedness among students of East African heritage by strengthening the community and promoting cultural pride.

“It is a unifying event between the East African organizations on campus,” Tadesse said. “It gives people the opportunity to meet one another, network within different cultures and fields and gives an overall good time for people to share and embrace their cultures.”

Everyone is welcome to attend Peace in the East, regardless of their cultural knowledge or background, Shauri said.

“You don’t have to have knowledge about the community, you can just come and learn,” Shauri said. “That’s what this event is about; learning, making connections and networking with other people who are not like you.”  

The event aims to create a close-knit community among the cultural organizations so that all students can feel accepted regardless of their cultural heritage, Tadesse said. 

“This gives people an opportunity on campus — especially with those who come out of state and are looking for a community that feels like home — to find that here on campus within their neighboring organizations,” Tadesse said. 

Yosan Afewerki, president of the Eritrean Student Association and a fourth-year in psychology, ​​said she observed the number of East African students increasing each year, and soon realized the need for cultural programming was growing alongside it.

“It started with the growing amount of East African students on campus and the growing amount of East African organizations that were being created,” Afewerki said. “It was almost a need to have something that was unifying.” 

Razan Mirghani, vice president of the North and South Sudanese Association and a fourth-year in neuroscience, said the student organizations’ shared goal of unification manifested in the creation of Peace in the East. 

“It started as a way to create a space for all the East Africans on campus to feel welcomed and a way that we can honor and share our culture,” Mirghani said. “We all have our separate organizations, but this is a really fun way to share with each other.” 

Afewerki said the event “sets in stone” that East African student organizations on campus are “collective and cohesive.”

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the East African student organizations frequently collaborated, Shauri said. However, due to the pandemic’s social distancing guidelines, student events and collaborations between the organizations dwindled. 

Shauri said Peace in the East — which began in 2022 — is meant to “bring back” the connection between the organizations and the East African community on campus. 

At this year’s Peace in the East celebration, Shauri said event organizers hope to create an entertaining experience and offer lasting connections for students who attend. 

“I hope that everyone who comes to this event gets a sense of community and neighborhood,” Shauri said.

This article was updated Oct. 1 at 1:16 p.m. to accurately reflect the location of the Peace in the East celebration.