by The Cowl Editor on December 6, 2018
Campus
by Kyle Burgess ’21
News Staff
In keeping with a week full of themed cuisine nights sponsored by Providence College’s numerous student-run cultural clubs, Friartown’s Circolo Italiano brought the flavors of the Bel Paese to McPhail’s this past Tuesday. Students had a wide array of traditional Italian dishes to choose from, such as chicken and eggplant parmesan, gnocchi, penne and broccoli, and desserts like cannolis and cheesecake.
Mangia Night continues to be a fan-favorite of students at PC as it has been for the past eight years. “What first inspired it was the traditional Sunday dinner which a lot of Italians do at home,” explained Felicia Lopez ’19, vice president of the club. “We wanted a way to bring our Friar Family and Italian culture together, hence why we invented Mangia as a means of keeping this tradition alive here on campus.”
Il Circolo also has several functions in the works to continue sharing and showcasing their Italian heritage with the student body. On Thursday, December 6, for example, the club plans to collaborate with the College’s Italian department to host a day of celebration of Italian heritage in Sullivan 212.
Additionally, the club hopes to ring in St. Joseph’s Day with zeppoles and other Italian pastries this coming March, along with a wine tasting event next semester for those 21 and older.
Alongside PC’s Italian club, other student organizations such as Campus Ministry, the Gaelic Society in partnership with Students Obtaining the Meaning of Spanish (SOMOS), and the Board of Multicultural Student Affairs (BMSA) also held food-related events this past week.
Campus Ministry held a beignet run on Thursday, November 29 that helped raise funds for their upcoming NOLA immersion trip in 2019. This trip allows students to take part in working alongside the New Orleans community that is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
BMSA hosted Cheesefest in ’64 Hall on Monday, November 26, to share cheese-themed dishes from around the world with the student body. BMSA holds this event every year, making it a fun-filled and delicious event the PC student body always looks forward to.
“Cheesefest is an annual opportunity for PC to come together to celebrate the glory of cheese as well as eleborate culture and explore the tradition of food in various cultures and places around the world,” Hannah Mackie ’19, vice president of BMSA.
Other on-campus events included a potato mash co-sponsored by PC’s Gaelic Society and SOMOS, which showcased traditional dishes of Irish and hispanic cultures. “We really loved the opportunity to co-sponsor with SOMOS because there are so many fantastic cultures represented on this campus and BMSA gives us a chance to show them to the greater PC community,” explained Camille Greaney ’19, vice president of Gaelic Society. “I have always found that sharing food is a great way to come together and what better food to share than potatoes!”
With the semester coming to a close and finals just around the corner, these clubs have helped students take a break from the workload to enjoy some good food and learn more about the cultures at PC.