Master of Ceremony Hunter Eider invites guests to help themselves to more food. Joe Addison // AS Review
By Jack Taylor
Rushing in and out of the Viking Union’s multipurpose room, members of Western’s Filipino American Student Association buzzed with excitement in anticipation for their 25th Annual Heritage Dinner: Aming Pamana. Being the first heritage dinner of the school year, students from different clubs gathered with FASA members to partake in the night’s festivities.
Happening right after Filipino American History Month in October, on Nov. 2 the theme of the dinner was “aming pamana” which translates to “our inheritance.” Filled with current students and alumna, the dinner reflected on how much the club has grown since starting in 1994. The idea of looking back was illuminated on a wall filled with photos of the past dinners.
Dinner-goers were entertained with contemporary performances as well as performances that honored traditional Filipino culture. The dinner featured a dance to a mashup of Sam Smith and Normani’s “Dancing with a Stranger” and Ariana Grande’s “Into You” as well as the group “Sayaw Sa Western” performing “Pagapir,” a traditional dance of the Maranao Tribe of Lanao del Sur.
Speaking on the importance of the dinner, Donella Lalas, the president of FASA, sat down prior to the dinner to talk about the event.
“It’s about our heritage, it’s about our legacy, it’s about our inheritance, that’s what ‘aming pamana’ translates to,” Lalas said. “So I would describe it [heritage dinner] as us looking over the 25 years and celebrating the fact that we’ve come this far and that we have had 25 years of heritage dinners.”
Because this was the 25th year of holding the dinner, Lalas wanted to make sure that the dinner stood out from previous years.
“It’s gonna be a little different in our intentions,” Lalas said. “Our decorations are different from anything we have ever done, like we will have a huge wall on the back that we already have set up that have pictures from the past 25 years.”
The highlight of the dinner was when Sigrid Bartara, a founding member of FASA, spoke as the keynote speaker and reflected on how the club has grown and flourished since 25 years ago.
“It’s great to be back here at Western, 25 years ago I didn’t imagine being here addressing all of you,” Bartara said. “Filipino American Student Association, this is beautiful.”
Bartara admitted how proud she was at how the club has grown in numbers and reflected on how hard it was to recruit members when she was at Western.
“Recruiting was downright grassroots, we would sit in the quad [red square] and look at the students walking by,” Bartara said. “If they even had a hint of Filipino, we would stop them and talk to them.”
Being able to identify as Filipino American was uplifting and powerful for many students back during Bartara’s time at Western, Bartara said many Filipino students were never given the chance to embrace that identity before joining FASA.
“There was a purpose to creating FASA, we created it for support and to share our culture,” Bartara said.
Bartara’s message of supporting and spreading Filipino culture can still be found in the club today.
“Growing up and going to school, I didn’t really have a Filipino community very much, and coming to Western, the only place you can find that community is if you go to FASA,” Lalas said.
During the dinner, Ricky Rath, who graduated spring of 2019, attended the ceremony and spoke about how much being a part of FASA during his time at Western impacted him.
“It just gave me a great connection to a lot of people I wouldn’t meet if I wasn’t a part of FASA or the ESC [ethnic student center] as a whole,” Rath said.
Like Lalas, Rath did not have a strong connection to his heritage when he was younger, he credits FASA for teaching him what he knows about Filipino culture. Rath ultimately thanks FASA for giving him a home away from home.
In an interview after the dinner, Shaina Yaranon, FASA’s events and fundraising coordinator, spoke about the group and the dinner.
Yaranon says the group’s success is due to being welcoming to everyone. Mentioning how the group is for anyone interested in Filipino culture, Yaranon encourages anyone to show up to their weekly meetings. FASA meets every Wednesday from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. in Academic West 308.
“We will have some fun meetings where we will learn Filipino games and stuff like that or like what they [Filipinos] do for the holidays in their country or sometimes we will learn the history and dances or music, so it’s diverse,” Yaranon said.
Ultimately, Yaranon echoed the sentiments of Rath, Lala and Bartara about how much the group means to her.
“One of the best decisions that I have ever made was walking through the doors of Academic West 304 and join FASA because FASA has shown me nothing but love, acceptance and support,” Yaranon said. “I found a home away from home that I didn’t think was possible up here.”