Photo contributed by the Cape Verdean Student Association
On Friday, Oct. 19 from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., over 480 people packed themselves into the Memorial Union Ballroom to attend the Cape Verdean Student Association’s All Black Affair Party.
All that was needed to attend were two forms of identification, an all-black outfit and the price of admission. University of Rhode Island Students were charged $5 and non-students were charged $7.
Students danced to the mixes of DJ FB and URI sophomore Jason Ramos, also known as DJ intimate. All funds raised went to the Cape Verdean Student Association.
Jason Ramos, along with being a DJ, serves as the association’s public relations manager. He expressed that the organization has been having financial issues so events like these are extremely important.
“We try our best,” Ramos said. “We always try different fundraising ideas, but to get money to the organization out of love, it’s hard to really get.”
Junior at URI, M’Mama Toure, the CVSA’s secretary of treasury, stressed that to be a part of the CVSA, you do not have to be Cape Verdean, which is a common misconception. “We want it to be inclusive to other people,” she explained.
Ramos said that the Cape Verdean population on campus and in Rhode Island contributes to the overall minority population on campus and is an important group within the minorities.
A lot of the organization’s efforts are focused on teaching people about the culture and Cape Verde. Cape Verde is a country spanning across ten volcanic islands in the central Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa. It is officially known as the Republic of Cabo Verde.
In Rhode Island, there are significant populations of Cape Verdeans in Providence and a lot of Cape Verdean students come to URI through the Talent Development program. Other Cape Verdean students at URI may come from Nantucket as well.
Ramos describes the organization as “serious,” with the party serving as a stress reliever to students and showing that the CVSA can have fun as well.
Freshman Noelya Delacruz, said that her favorite part of the event was seeing non-students, particularly people she knew back home from Providence.
“It can get kind of monotonous seeing the same people everyday or at every party,” Delacruz explained.
Another freshman, Ashton Grenon, had heard about the party from friends on campus and praised the DJs for a great job. “They changed it up and everyone was just having a great time.”
Sophomore Nicole Saillant saw posts about the event all over Instagram and Snapchat stories from other sophomores and saw the booth the CVSA had set up in the Memorial Union during the weeks leading up to the party. The organization’s members blasted music and handed out flyers, urging people to attend.
“I thought it was a lot of fun actually,” Saillant said. “I enjoyed the music. Me and my friends love to dance-well they love to dance, so I was hyping them up.”
While students will likely have to wait until the 2019 spring semester for another CVSA organized party, they can look forward to CVSA week later in the semester to help support the organization in their time of need.