The Bangladesh Students’ Association RSO hosted “Bangladesh Night 2019” over the weekend to celebrate International Mother Language Day and give the University of Wyoming community a taste of its culture.
Honoring both America and Bangladesh, the cultural program began with the singing of U.S. and Bangladesh national anthems. This was followed by speeches from guests Warrie Means, associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Anthony Ogden, associate vice provost for global engagement, a new position created half a year ago.
Means spoke about the increasing world population and how there is always something to learn about the people in agriculture from Bangladesh, a small country in South Asia, and all over the world.
Ogden touched on his newly minted title and position and presented 10 interesting facts about the country of Bangladesh. He also mentioned that there are well over 30 Bangladesh students, faculty and staff at the University.
Ogden added his own 11th fact after receiving flowers and gifts from the Bangladesh students running the event.
“Bangladesh is undoubtedly home to the world’s kindest people, who are certainly warm, caring and considerate,” he said.
Anowar Islam, the association’s advisor and a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, then gave his speech and introduced the Bangladesh committee, composed of primarily of students. Bangladesh Students’ Association President Asif Hasan Rony stepped in to offer a brief overview and some insight into the country of Bangladesh with a PowerPoint presentation and the first performance of the night.
Bangladesh Night performances began with a solo classical dance native to the country and was followed by a fashion show that featured clothing connected to holidays celebrated in Bangladesh.
A Bangladesh student rock band performed a fan favorite, “I Want it that Way,” by the Backstreet Boys and a Green Day song, as well as a handful of popular Bangladesh songs. The first group dance of the evening followed.
The night then turned to a more theatrical performance to emphasize the International Mother Language Day holiday with a mime rendition. The performance followed the story of an emperor who was eventually killed because, “no society can survive without their language.” International Mother Language Day is celebrated on Feb. 21 every year in honor of the martyrs of the 1952 Language Movement in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
“Since 2000, this day has been observed to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism,” according to the association’s pamphlet.
A short documentary film by BBC, “The Floating Farms of Bangladesh”, followed the mime act. The clip delved into how farmers of Bangladesh have made floating soil rows to overcome the flooded, wet areas of Bangladesh.
A quiz show where the audience could win prizes, a couple’s dance, duet song, the second group dance and a thank you note ended the cultural event for the evening. A ticketed dinner event was held afterwards.
ASUW, the Student Engagement Office, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Toyota of Laramie sponsored the events.
