A pair of red and yellow sequined lions danced in harmony to the beat of a drum en route from the University Library to bring good luck and fortune.
The Department of Asian and Asian American Studies hosted the Chinese Lion Dance Procession on Tuesday.
[pullquote align=”center” speaker=”CSULB President Jane Close Conoley”]That’s a very important university-wide goal for adventuresome students who want to become global citizens.[/pullquote]The dance aimed to bring good fortune and raise awareness for students wanting to study abroad this summer, according to Teri Yamada, the chair of the department of Asian and Asian American Studies.
“To be able to go to either Taiwan or China to go study the language makes a huge difference,” Yamada said in reference to the fact that most AAAS students are studying Asian languages.
Michael Uhlenkamp, CSULB’s executive director of media and digital news, said that the dance also intended to help raise funds for the students to study abroad who are underrepresented or from low-income families.
University President Jane Close Conoley addressed the AAAS department and students and joined them for the procession.
“We want to raise the number of students who have access to study abroad within just an extra year,” Conoley said in a brief speech before the dance. “That’s a very important university-wide goal for adventuresome students who want to become global citizens.”
Red and yellow sequined lions bring good fortune to Cal State University, Long Beach by performing a dance at Maxson Plaza on Tuesday.
Karen Yee, a senior Chinese and geography major who is planning to study abroad in Shanghai this summer, said that students should be able to experience studying abroad.
“It looks really good on applications and can raise a person’s worldliness,” Yee said. “If you understand the culture, you can understand the people more, which makes learning the language a lot easier.”
Yee said that the trip to Shanghai is about $3,000 per student. She said that AAAS has raised about $1,000 so far.
“[This] is good, but then it’s split between everybody so then it’s not as much,” Yee said. “But every little bit helps.”
Hector said that the idea of good luck from the lion originated when an emperor had a dream about a cat-like creature that would bring him good luck.
Yamada said she is calling on CSULB students to help raise funds for fellow classmates who hope to study abroad.
“I ask that instead of buying a cup of coffee or tea, CSULB students donate that money one time to their student colleagues,” Yamada said. “In turn, the students being funded know they have to return something positive to society for this chance.”
If students want to donate, they can go online to gofundme.com/csulb-go-asia.