“Food brings people together,” Pat Bristor, associate dean of Student Services said.

The Ethnic Food Fair that took place Tuesday, Feb. 27 brought more than just people together, but also their cultural heritages.

On the third floor of Stover, in all three conference rooms, students and faculty brought their own homemade dishes for others to taste-test.

Because the fair is about ethnicity, each cook brought a dish from their personal cultural background.

Cards were placed in front of each dish, displaying the name of the dish and where it originated.

Tables stretched all across the walls of the rooms with a wide array of food for taste testers to sample.

As the fair carried on, a steel pan played in the background, beating the sounds of the Caribbean Islands out across the room.

Multicultural Club President Chyanne Vanzant, sophomore international business and political science major, said the fair is about coming together and experiencing various dishes.

“It’s so good to see how other students bring food from, either their native countries, or just from something they have seen or tried before,” said Vanzant. “It’s nice seeing how we are all getting involved in different cultures.”

A variety of the university’s community rolled up their sleeves to provide food from their ethnic background.

Faculty, staff, the Black Student Union Club, the Marine Biology Club and many others contributed food to create an assortment of represented countries.

Dishes ranged from major ones, such as Jamaican jerk chicken and Polish haluski, to smaller side dishes, like salads and dips.

Bristor said that the fair allows students to get another perspective on how people around the world eat.

“It’s important to explore different cultures,” said Bristor, “and have, hopefully, a better understanding of cultures as we try to increase our diversity on campus.”

The Multicultural Club had a large amount of participation in the fair. Vanzant said this event is what being a part of the club is about.

“We love being involved in anything that gathers cultural exposure, especially here, at Waynesburg,” said Vanzant. “[The fair] is such a gathering event. Representing foods from different countries is essential to the Multicultural Club.”

After the event ended, Student Services took the leftovers and transported them to St. Anne Roman Catholic Church on East High Street.

Bonner Scholars and service learning students have been making a free meal for member of the community on Tuesday nights for the past 15 years.

The meal is a part of the church’s “Good Neighbor’s Lunch Program.” According to Bristor, they do this so that the food doesn’t go to waste. Plus, it gives “the community a taste of culture too,” said Bristor.