CultureFest didn't get deserved attention

From 4:30 - 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24 CultureFest, took place at Showalter Fountain to welcome new students. I want to compliment the planners and those who prepared for the event and worked so very hard during, before and after. It was a delightful program; the musical performers, Soul Revue, Alma Azul, Straight No Chaser and others were all outstanding. Music, dancing, fellowship, good food from our local restaurants ' what more could one ask for?\nEach of the culture centers on campus: Asian Culture Center, La Casa, Black Culture Center, International Center, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender office and OUT, set up booths, greeted and welcomed the newcomers, served excellent food, and created a wonderful image of this University to all newcomers as well as for those of us who have been around for a while. Vice President for Student Development and Diversity Charlie Nelms and his staff have shown again what a wonderful treasure and asset the Office of Multicultural Affairs is.\nAs I listened to Bloomington Chancellor Ken Gros Louis show slides of the history of IU and tell stories about each of them, I thought how splendid an event like this is for a new student's first week at a university. What a marvelous experience to be introduced to so much of the world we live in and shown its charm and loveliness all in the space of one brief afternoon. Alas, when I entered college there was nothing so exciting on our campus. It was conformity and exclusion all the way.\nI regret that the IDS did not cover this splendid welcome to our new students. Nothing I have seen has so beautifully illustrated our campus world without bounds, as this event It was terribly disappointing that it received no recognition in our own newspaper, the IDS, or in the Bloomington Herald-Times. But the huge attendance certainly showed its value.