The Wake

The Steelers battled the Seahawks, but neither tin-man nor bird stole hearts in Coffman’s Great Hall on Super Bowl Sunday. This year, the dog was all the rage.

The Chinese American Student Association (CASA) brought in the Year of the Dog with a celebration in the Great Hall Feb. 5th, Super Bowl Sunday. More than 350 students and community members skipped the big game for dinner, dancing and music at the Chinese New Year’s party.

“I was gleaming inside … I was so surprised how many people came, and especially how many people stayed,” said Albert Leung, president of CASA. CASA originally planned to host the celebration on the actual Chinese and Lunar New Year, Jan. 29. Due to scheduling conflicts, the group changed the date and was later dismayed to find they chose Super Bowl Sunday. “I wanted to watch the game as much as any other football fan,” Leung said.

Stephanie Kearly, who works at the university in the financial aid office, was one of many parents who brought a child to the party. She brought her six-year-old daughter because “she is fascinated with China,” she said. Her daughter, Alex, nodded in agreement.

Instead of beer-chugging, face-painted football fans and risqué cheerleaders, the Kearly’s were greeted with a family-friendly dog mascot, elegant red and gold decorations and a full dinner from Hope’s Chinese Restaurant. The evening, free for students, featured a variety of live performances—including a rousing lion dance and other Chinese dances, as well as music performed by members of CASA, Minnesota Chinese Dance Theater and the Chinese American Association of Minnesota. “It took a really long time to plan,” said Christine Liu, public relations officer of CASA, with a sigh.

Though the Chinese New Year’s celebration is their biggest event, CASA, a group of around 50 official members, plans several events each year. “[CASA] is dedicated to promoting cultural awareness,” Lui explains. CASA is currently planning a formal dance set for April 7. They have not yet chosen a charity, but last year’s auction benefited the China AIDS Orphan Fund.

Other events and activities this year have included a soymilk and movie night and a lecture by photographer Wing Young Hui, on a photo project concerning Asian American issues.

Involvement in CASA offers a way to “explore diversity and Asian American issues,” Leung explains. CASA also collaborates with the Asian Student Union on several projects, he says.

Leung admits, “I certainly am no expert [in Asian topics]. It’s a learning process for me as well.”

Lui says, “For me, personally … [CASA] is a way to meet others of the same background and embrace in it.” She explains that for some Chinese Americans, “growing up in America … it is hard to immerse Asian culture into the American culture.” CASA helps students meet others of the same background and share their culture with the larger student body—as with the New Year’s celebration.

The Lunar New Year is the most important of traditional Chinese holidays, and is celebrated for 15 days. Many party-goers followed the traditional superstition of wearing red on New Year’s. A pamphlet that was passed around at the party was less clear about whether celebrators washed their hair, swept the floor, lent money or dropped chopsticks—which are all New Year’s Day don’ts. (Superstitions are generally not taken seriously).

Although CASA rang in the new year with a fresh and optimistic edge, those born under the year of the dog will be plagued with “constant worry, a sharp tongue, and a tendency to be a fault finder.” Odd, with such qualities, they just might make fine football fanatics someday.

The puppies (born in 2006, 1994, 1982, 1970, 1958 and 1946) are also said to be “honest, quiet, intelligent, generous, stubborn, loyal and faithful to those they love.”

CASA is open to all University of Minnesota students. There is a $5 fee for official membership. For more about the group check out .