The annual World Expo was hosted by the Undergraduate Diversity Collaborative (UDC), in the Thwing Center on April 15 to celebrate Case Western Reserve University campus diversity. Crowds of students, faculty and organizations poured into Thwing on Saturday for food and performances from a variety of cultures.

There were 14 organizations that filled up the Thwing Atrium, representing their own different religious and cultures. Each organization made their presence in this event in their own different way, such as Filipino Student Union selling pancit, limpid and BBQ pork and Heartbeat of Africa handing out handmade bowties.

Cultural performances like the Chinese dragon dance were presented in the Thwing Ballroom, accompanied by several different kinds of restaurant dishes catered from places like Pacific East Japanese Restaurant, Han Chinese Kabob & Grill and Saffron Patch.

Students who came to the event were given eight free tickets to purchase food or participate in activities provided by participating organizations. They were also given a paper passport to collect stickers from the booths, which could later be entered into a drawing for gift cards or Snapchat Spectacles. People were also able to purchase tickets directly. Although tickets were sold by UDC, money raised from the ticket sale would be returned to the organizations to support their cultural endeavor in the future.

According to Viral Mistry, the vice president of Internal Elect of UDC, the preparation for World Expo started in November.

“Every week we progressively been doing bit by bit, making sure the organizations are aware,” said Mistry.  I’m really proud of entire executive teams and various committees putting [in] a ton of time.”

Compared to previous years, this year’s World Expo was able to gather more help. The staff of UDC is growing each year, so there were more people to help organize the event. Misty hoped that the growth could continue in the future.

“I want us to bring even more and do even more within the time,” Mistry said. “We are here to celebrate the various people we have here on campus and I want to make sure that we do a good job.”

Third-year student Hor Yian Lai was one of many students who thoroughly enjoyed the event.

“I got to know more about other cultures and get to taste all of them,” commented Lai.

Vice President of Student Life Lou Stark, also came to World Expo with his wife.

“This is absolutely one of my favorite events of the year.” said Stark. “We come every year and we love it.”

Members of UDC were busy organizing and helping out with different organizations and performances throughout the event, and that is what matters, according to Mistry.

“The important thing for me that I come out of this event is that every organization here came away with bigger presence on campus,” said Mistry. “That means we have succeeded.”