The last act of the Talent Show has concluded. The football game has ended and the early morning 5K run has been completed. Family Weekend is over. And, as it has been, it was capped off by Asian Council’s Parents Dinner.
“The purpose of Parents’ Dinner is to showcase the Asian community and organizations to the parents,” Julianne Nguyen, President of Asian Council, said. “As well as to show gratitude to parents for their support for their children at SMU.”
Parents’ Dinner was held in the Hughes-Trigg ballroom on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. More than 130 people attended, including parents, siblings, grandparents and relatives of all sorts. Families of all sizes and from various places attended; the largest family totaling 14 people, while the family that came the farthest travelled from Houston.
Asian Council was founded in 1997 as a liaison between the Asian community and the rest of the SMU campus. It is the umbrella organization of five Asian organizations: East Asian Student Association, Indian Student Association, Vietnamese Student Association, Persian Student Society and Asian American Leadership and Educational Conference.
“The purpose of Asian Council is to integrate the Asian community within itself and with the entire SMU community as well,” Winfred Ko, Vice-President of Asian Council, said.
Parents’ Dinner is the final event of Family Weekend. Family Weekend invites parents to come out to campus for a weekend and see what their children have been spending their time doing. Some events over the weekend included a Talent Show, a fish fry by the Association of Black Students, a football game against rival TCU and a 5K walk to support Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Parents’ Dinner began with an introduction by Nguyen welcoming and thanking parents for coming out. Nessa Duque, Coordinator of Asian American Student Services, explained the program and her own role within the Asian community. One of the highlights of the event was AC Love Letters, anonymous letters written by students to their parents.
“AC Love Letters were started in the late 90s as a way to show appreciation and gratitude to parents,” said Nguyen. “To me, this event illustrates the main purpose and sincerity of Parents’ Dinner.”
The program intermissioned for dinner, which consisted of food and dessert from multiple countries, including China, Japan, India and Korea. Dinner was followed by entertainment in the form of skits performed by the organizations under Asian Council. Parents’ Dinner concluded with a closing speech by Ko.