During an initial survey of my residents, I learned that a few of them celebrated a holiday called “Holi,” which I had no familiarity with. After some investigating and searching, I learned about this Hindu festival of colors celebrated in India. I saw a great chance to reach out to my population of first-year women in a fun, zainy way that would serve as a great way to educate them on another culture. After asking one of my residents to assist me in making the program as “authentic” as it could be, I and my staff created the program.

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The focal point of the program was the paint powder. We asked the residents to wear “junky” clothes, and then moved them outside to throw the powder all over each other. While some residents were running around outside, there were activities inside. I had contemporary and classical Indian music playing, as well as Indian food and drinks for the women to try. We had a resident who volunteered and helped to do henna on some of the girls. We also had a rangoli making table. Rangoli are traditional designs that are embellished with the paint powder and lots of glue. Another resident helped out with these designs. We also had brochures for the residents to take away describing Holi, and another brochure about social justice issues in India.

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The goals of this program were to educate my residents on a tradition they were unfamiliar with, a tradition that some of their peers celebrate with their families. It was also a way to include my residents that do not necessarily celebrate the Judeo-Christian-Muslim holidays that are more visible and recognizable. Through these fun and exciting activities the residents were about to get a taste of another tradition that they can take with them and educate others on.

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This program was a great introduction to a culture that exists around them, especially at Rutgers, but is not visible. The residents who were able to participate can now go and be educators among their own friends and give Holi and other Indian traditions a more recognizable face. Also, this was a great way of recognizing residents who are often marginalized in the December celebrations of their peers, and giving value to their traditions.

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Overall we were very happy with this program. Our staff at Katzenbach worked incredibly hard to pull this all together and did a great job. The residents that helped plan and participated in it walked away happy, and many swore they wanted to attend a Holi celebration in India.

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This program can be easily adapted. If a social justice perspective is desired, a showing and discussion of a movie like Slumdog Millionaire can occur. If the paint throwing seems too messy, the rangoli designs are another great way of incorporating the paint. If there are Indian cultural groups on campus, they can be included in a variety of ways.

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