On Tuesday, February 13th Clarke hosted a Night in Brazil concert. Food was offered to anyone who came to the event and there was live music on display for all to hear. Over the last couple years Clarke has been hosting these “Night In” concerts to spread awareness to these countries and their cultural background. The events continue to get bigger and bigger each year as students and faculty love the diversity it brings. The event is free to students and faculty which is a big factor in getting publicity around the event. In years past these events have been a hit but even more so now with more people than ever showing up.
In an interview with with Rob Stull who sets up the “Night In” events and is the chair of the arts at Clarke committee, he said “The whole night was a highlight really, what makes the “night in” concerts really exciting is the blending of the arts with the food. I know a lot of people especially students love free food, being able to have some input from the faculty and students from Brazil saying this is food that we are used to in Brazil and being able to have Steve Neese from dining services be able to create a menu that has that food is really cool to be able to do. We always have a group that comes in and does some sort of music. When you talk about Brazil it’s usually Samba. It was good for the Clarke jazz ensemble to be able to play some Samba. To also hear something different from a group, Brazil is a huge country, so we have Samba but in northeastern Brazil we have this type of music. To find something that would relate to international students and something that not a lot of people know about is key. We had a night in Latin America probably three or four years ago and it was one that did well, it was a general Latin American event. We were happy to narrow it down and that was what the group went with.”
In the next coming years there is a strong possibility that the “Night In” concerts could be moved to an off-campus space as well. With more students and outside spectators joining to view these awesome events, it is growing too big for the Student Activity Center. A couple from Dubuque said it was great to get out of the house and be able to enjoy something in the community. Connections like this can help move the community involvement in a positive direction. This could mean that more of the City of Dubuque could start showing up and that would be awesome growth for Clarke as a whole. Students in the past have struggled to get out to these campus events as low participation numbers were noticeable by many. But these “Night In” concerts have been bringing new popularity to these campus events which is positive for the students and faculty.
Tye Ojala