Every year, the African Student Association hosts a pageant celebrating African food, culture, and music. This year, they’re changing things up with a silent disco.

The club’s president, Randa Abdelhameed, presented the new event first to the Budget and Allocations Committee through a Special Request for funds, which was approved unanimously and forwarded to the Senate.

“African Student Association is basically to educate about African history, what we have going on, the culture, the music, the design. It’s beautiful,” she told the committee. The club was established in 2014 and boasts over 50 members.

 “I want to be able to teach everyone here at UNF the beauty of (Africa) because it’s something that you’ll never forget,” Abdelhameed continued.

Last year’s ASA pageant hosted over 200 people, but this year the club decided to create an event that was more interactive. 

“We’re going to change it up this year. I don’t want a pageant,” said Adbelhameed when she presented the plan to the Senate. “We want to do something different where it involves Afro-beat music themes and exposes students to different African-based music, and people are allowed to dance and not just sit there and watch people perform.”

The club made a special request to Student Government for $3,684.71 to help fund the event. This included $564.91 for decorations, including a “Welcome to Africa” kit of reusable decorations, $1007.24 for food, $1700 for DJ services, and $412.50 for Henna from a professional artist.

The silent disco will include headphones for up to 100 students to participate at a time, and the catering will be provided by the African Market. 

“It’s going to be nothing but African food,” said Abdelhameed. 

The event, which will be held in Ballrooms A and B of Student Union West, will also feature a free raffle with prizes provided through donations. 

Besides the annual event, ASA also hosts African dance lessons and participates in Market Days. Each Wednesday, the club chooses a different African country to feature with specific fabrics and items from that location. 

They choose to focus on one country each week in order to, “bring it to life and show it to the students here so they can actually see what it’s about,” according to Abdelhameed. 

The Special Request for funds was unanimously approved by the Senate.

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