Students at Shaw Dining Center found themselves surrounded by red, green and black balloons. A dessert table at the front of the cafeteria was piled high with cornbread, apple pie and ice cream, and the menu included fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and barbeque ribs.

On Tuesday night, various dining halls on campus celebrated Black History Month with a special themed night featuring foods from African-American culture.

These themed nights, taking place once or twice a month, are special occasions meant to improve the dining hall eating experience by adding variety. On themed nights, students are exposed to cuisines from other cultures, said Lynne Mowers, secretary to the director of Syracuse University Food Services.

“Our goal is to offer some different foods, to expose customers to new tastes and enhance our menu,” Mowers said.

The dinners are often centered on events affecting the campus community or national events, such as National Orange Day or Black History Month, Mowers said.

Stephen Benn, a freshman in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, said he felt the night supported the African-American community and honored the struggles they faced during the Civil War.

“It reminds me of home,” Benn said, smiling as he ate the familiar foods.

But others, such as freshman graphic design major Sergio Rodriguez, don’t think the themed nights highlighting specific cultures are beneficial. He said he thinks the food selected to represent one culture on one day is stereotypical.

“They should just add more variety of food from different cultures and serve it everyday,” he said.

The events do not require extra funding. Part of the money students pay for their meal plan is allocated for these events, said Mowers, of Food Services.

A menu committee is created to select the foods for the event, as well as arrange a date for the event to take place. To create an appropriate menu that relates to the theme, the committee seeks the help of various groups on campus. For example, Asian Students in America helped plan last year’s Chinese New Year night and the Phi Iota Alpha fraternity typically brings ideas for the Latino Month dinner, Mowers said.

“We check campus event schedules and other happenings before setting theme dinner dates. We also try to make sure things are scheduled when we have the most staffing available,” Mowers said.

The themed nights go beyond the food — the dining halls are decorated to educate students on the cultures that inspired the event.

“It’s good to know more about different cultures, and there’s no better way than to put it in the cafeteria because everyone comes,” said Erdira Wirengjurit, an undecided freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.

She said the cultural nights pique her interest, motivating her to read the information provided in the dining halls about other cultures. Wirengjurit said she read some of the articles posted on the walls for Black History Month on Tuesday.

Several students agreed that the food options on themed nights are better than their usual choices, and that they’d like to see these special events more often.

“I would love to have a Japanese Day,” said Yuki Uchida, a freshman international student studying biology.

The next themed night is in celebration of the Chinese New Year, which will take place Feb. 10.

Published on February 6, 2013 at 1:10 am

Contact Tatiana: tavilesa@syr.edu