On January 25, international students on campus celebrated the Lunar New Year a bit differently with changes brought by the new leadership. 

International Prefect Isa Pan ’21 participated in the festivities last year and helped plan the activities for this year. 

“This year’s celebration was different since we had three different parts,” Pan said. “In the past few years, we usually ordered Han Dynasty and had a huge dinner together in the CFTA while watching the Spring Festival Gala. This year the International Prefects and new International Coordinator Helen Qiu have planned multiple festive events throughout the week to celebrate the holiday.” 

The first event was on January 24, when students watched the Lunar New Year Gala which was held in the McNally room. The next day, the school organized a hot pot trip to Philadelphia Chinatown 

Pan also mentioned that there will also be a Lantern Festival on February 8th as well.

“We will also be celebrating the Lantern Festival for the first time at Hill, and I’m really excited to see how students like the new celebration,” Pan said.

“This year, all the events were open to the entire student population,” Qiu said. “By doing so, I am hoping to introduce Lunar New Year to non-Asian students as well. Also, all of the events are designed to celebrate Lunar New Year in a more authentic way, similar to what families and friends do overseas. Moreover, students not only join the events, but they actually learn the culture by making traditional food, such as rice balls (Tangyuan).”