On Sept. 20, the Undergraduate Diversity Collaborative (UDC) held their fall flagship named Under One Sky: World Expo 2026. World Expo is traditionally UDC’s in-house student activities fair. Every UDC organization is required to attend, gathering over 60 active member clubs in a reunion at Case Western Reserve University for a night of cultural fusion and grass roots advocacy.
This year, World Expo featured a performance by Naadam, a UDC organization that performs Indian classical music. Through vocal and instrumental performances, they spotlighted Carnatic and Hindustani traditions, bringing them to CWRU’s doorstep. Carnatic violinist and second-year student Satya Parameswaran commented on her experience performing.
“I was very excited leading up to our UDC performance and it was my first time performing for a UDC event. There were a few issues with the mic system, but overall I thought the performance went well and it was a good experience!” Parameswaran said. “I think UDC provides great opportunities to showcase different cultures and Naadam would love to perform at more UDC events in the future!”
Another change from last year was the layout of the tabling organizations. The student organizations were randomly spread out across the ballroom, as opposed to being grouped by common themes such as advocacy or culture. President of UDC and fourth-year Amrita Saini commented on the impact of the change.
“[The layout] creates space where conversations happen.” Saini said. “So that allowed for organizations to talk to the people right next to them.”
Conversations and the intermingling of diverse communities are highlights of UDC’s programming. Having a dedicated activities fair for just their organizations allows CWRU students, first-years especially, to discover a piece of home or new community on campus. Saini elaborated on the need for World Expo and organizations under UDC.
“[World Expo] really shows Case students that there are various communities that exist here,” Saini said. “Despite how small our campus can be at times, it welcomes them into whatever group they want to be a part of or any culture they want to explore.”
These changes were generally well received by both attendees and member organizations. UDC made a concerted effort to bring more people together in the space. Muslim Student Association (MSA) co-president and third-year Fadia Naqash also commented on the changes to the World Expo event.
“I really liked world expo this year in comparison to last year! It felt more structured but was chaotic like many big UDC events tend to be.” Naqash said. “I think being [a part] of UDC has its pros and cons but I’m grateful for the relative consistency it tries to provide.”
Some UDC organizations see World Expo as an opportunity to bring their efforts to a wider audience. Vihaan Majumdar, treasurer of the Case Bangla Association commented on the experience as a tabling organization.
“I think the world expo gives a platform to a diverse range of clubs, from big organizations representing countries to the smallest of organizations, such as ours,” Majumdar said. “Because of the world expo, students can understand the wide diversity on campus, which will always have room to grow.”
However, the experience was not consistently positive for all the organizations present. Some reported low interest or traffic at their individual tables. For example, co-president of Taiwanese American Student Association (TASA), fourth-year Andrew Ke commented on their turn-out for World Expo.
“I think it was maybe marginally beneficial, but compared to similar tabling opportunities like D360/Worldwide Welcome and Student Activities Fair, there was barely anyone new that came to our table actually interested in joining TASA.” Ke said.
Even still, there is perceived value in having UDC as an umbrella organization. Ke further commented on TASA’s relationship to UDC.
“We do value being a part of the larger UDC community to an extent because they do offer us a lot of funding for our events,” Ke said. “We also appreciate when they promote our events in their emails. But I think UDC as an [organization] definitely has room for improvement with their organization and communication.”
Though it is far from perfect, UDC and its yearly flagship World Expo event remains a staple on CWRU’s campus.