To view multimedia coverage of the AAPI Heritage Month lei-making event, click here.
Ribbons took the form of leis as they encircled students at the Multicultural Center on May 7.
More than 40 students attended the lei-making event where Psychology Professor Angela Belden gave instructions on how to loop lengths of ribbon together into a chain to make a lei, in celebration of Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
“I’m very excited that so many people came and they wanted to make leis and have coffee and desserts, I love it,” Belden said. “I was happy to share what I know.”
Belden’s wife is Hawaiian and she cites the time she has spent in Hawaii learning the craft of weaving a ribbon lei.
“People seem interested, they want to make a lei, they want to do these crafts that touch that cultural heritage, specifically for lei making, Hawaiian heritage, which I think is really amazing,” Belden said.
Alongside the lei crafting, the event had coffee and cultural desserts available to try. Hopia is a type of flaky dough pastry with filling originating from Indonesia and the Philippines. The hopias being served at the event were filled with ube, a purple sweet yam. Also from the Philippines was a honey syrup glazed turon, a spring roll-like dessert that is filled with slices of banana.
Taking different lengths of ribbons, some of the attendees made leis that draped around their shoulders while others made shorter ones that would sit on top of their heads like a ribbon circlet.
“It’s a pretty fun activity, it’s kind of hard to start at first but once you get into it, it’s pretty relaxing,” animal science major Andrea Damian said.
Because the lei crafting technique taught requires two separate lengths of ribbons, many attendees wove together different ribbon colors to produce an array of combinations.
“I think a lot of the students and the staff and faculty like the hands-on events that we do,” Multicultural Center Coordinator Tatevik Melkumyan said. “I always find that students enjoy that the most.”
The discussion for holding a lei making event started last year when figuring out what to do for AAPI month and the staff made some leis with Belden, according to Melkumyan.
“When we were getting ready to plan the events for AAPI Heritage Month this year, I reached out to her and asked if she would be OK with leading a workshop for the students to do a bigger event this year and she said yes,” Melkumyan said.
