Near the semester’s end and with finals just right around the corner, City College hosted the 40th annual People’s Day Thursday, May 5, a festival that shed awareness on campus diversity on Cinco de Mayo and gave campus clubs the opportunity to generate funds.
The all-day event featured a free pancake breakfast, dunk tanks, live music and dance, food and arts and crafts booths on the campus quad.
According to Filipino Club President Lariza Barcena, who performed in the afternoon Polynesian dance, “Sac City is one of the most diverse community colleges in California, and we need some way to prove it.”
Associated Student Government Chief Executive and President-elect Leedel Arnell Williams Jr. described the overall event as “giving back to the students.”
City College has held many successful People’s Day festivals, though the event was originally called “Pioneer Days” in the 1930s. This year’s celebration incorporated Cinco de Mayo into the festivities, a Mexican holiday that honors the Battle of Puebla, when the Mexican Army defeated the French 149 years ago. In the United States today, Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican heritage.
The event honors everybody, according to Brown Issues Club supporter Julio Duarte.
“That is why it’s called People’s Day, and it just landed on a holiday that Mexico celebrates,” said Duarte. “We get to reflect [Cinco de Mayo] today with showing our culture.”
He added, “Besides sharing our culture and our fundraising, [People’s Day] is just letting [students know] that our club exists on campus, so it’s a good day for recruitment.”
The event helped give clubs such as the Northern California Anime and Manga Otaku Club a chance to fundraise for ongoing tsunami relief in Japan.
People’s Day is annually sponsored by Student Leadership and Development for the campus community, according to Chris Torres, City College student affairs specialist and coordinator of the event. It is the last push of the school year for fundraising and increasing awareness about campus clubs and other outside organizations available and beneficial to students.
“[The organizing of the event is] a lot bigger than what I anticipated it to be because of all the elements that are involved,” said Torres.
“This is our biggest revenue generating event for [Student Leadership and Development],” said Torres. “This is where we raise most of our [funds], which helps us put on all of our [other] events,” including the arts and crafts fair and Club Day.
