The Year of the Horse made a grand entrance at the University of the Fraser Valley on Friday, Jan 31. More than 150 people gathered at U-House on the Abbostford campus to participate in the event.

Every year, Chinese students organize festivities to usher the Lunar New Year at UFV. This year, the well-attended event had a distinct multicultural flavour, thanks to the UFV India student club, who joined hands with the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) to stage the celebration, which featured games, cooking lessons, singing, dancing, and delicious Chinese dishes.

Yaou Yu, CSSA’s president, and Sarabjit Kaur, president of the UFV India student club, were thrilled with the collaborative, intercultural event, which was the first on campus to be supported by a Global Citizenship Grant (GCG).

The GCG is a new initiative of UFV International to encourage internationalization through student-led events. Student groups who collaborate on a global event, activity, or training session can receive up to $500 in funding.

GCG applications must demonstrate a variety of global competencies, such as intercultural communication and collaborative leadership. In addition, recipients of the GCG are eligible to receive non-academic credit through the Co-Curricular Record (CCR).

David McGuire, UFV International’s executive director, is motivated by the quality and impact of the first ever GCG-supported event. “The celebration of Chinese New Year by UFV’s two largest international student populations went beyond our expectations,” he says. “It is very positive to see various student groups excited to work collaboratively to celebrate cultural holidays, bring global issues to light, and become global citizens. We look forward to seeing more events like this coming to our campus.”

Kaur and Yu agree. “We were really happy to receive the Global Citizenship Grant, because it gave many more people the opportunity to learn about Chinese culture and the traditions of the Lunar New Year,” says Kaur.

“It was good to work with UFV India because many more people attended the celebration,” Yu adds. “It was also great to feature Bhangra dancing. Many Chinese students have never seen this type of traditional Indian dancing before.”

Applications for Global Citizenship Grants are accepted on a continuous basis. Find out more information on eligibility criteria and how to apply.