After a year of planning, the International Student Organization (ISO) held their fifth annual ISO Gala. The event took place on Saturday, April 14, and served to raise money to support women who are victims of sexual assault in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Though this was the club’s fifth gala, as ISO president, junior Paul Kayembe focused on the gala as a key event for ISO. The previous gala “was more of a surprise than anything,” Kayembe said. In the club’s early start on the project, they were able to outline much of the event, allowing them to begin promoting it soon into the 2017-2018 school year.

The early start also allowed the team to make alterations along the way. Throughout the school year, ISO hosted different events like Professor Storytime, with each one promoting the gala. This allowed the club to sell tickets and gauge how well they were selling. Even in the final weeks leading up to the gala, the club had to change their strategies for selling the tickets.

The year-long process came with plenty of challenges and doubts. “Financially, we faced a lot of hurdles,” Kayembe said. Though the club received some funding from the Student Government Association, the majority of the money had to come from sponsors. The club worked hard to go around the community, finding sponsors and donors for the gala.

After much planning and perseverance, the night of the gala finally rolled around. Despite a few last-minute hiccups, Martin Chapel filled up with professors, students, faculty, and other supporters.

Will Ewart

Much of the gala featured student performers in the forms of musical performances and spoken word. The lineup consisted of Talibah Aquil, Meechy Jay, Willow Run, and Earnest Kiah and Bruce Cypress. Each performance captured a unique style and individual expression, but with none juxtaposing the other.

As the Mediterranean dinner wrapped up, Dr. Diana J. Fox, an anthropology professor at Bridgewater State University, took the stage to deliver the evening’s keynote presentation. She highlighted many of the roots of patriarchal society and how gender norms and the oppression of women is continuing. Her speech captured many of the ways in which women are oppressed around the world.

As the event wrapped up, the club took time to recognize three members who had contributed much time and effort to ISO. Seniors Emmanuel Kampanga, Phoebe Coffie, and Angel Mallard were awarded with the ISO Excellency Award.

Reflecting on the turn-out and feedback so far from this year’s gala, Kayembe hopes that more students will come to future ISO events. In addition to this, Kayembe also sees this as an opportunity for better fundraising. “This event was the first step [towards] earning their respect so that next year when we come with this same…ambition, they will not hesitate,” Kayembe said.

Junior Gillian Zehr, who was in charge of much of the gala’s designing, was pleased with how smoothly the event ran from start to finish. “There were [no hiccups], which with any event is crazy,” Zehr said. After much stressful planning and preparation, the event wrapped up in a communal fashion. “We had a solid group of people stay around and help us clean up that weren’t a part of ISO or LSA,” Zehr said. “They were just there to help.”

As of now, ISO has raised around $4,200 towards their goal of $25,000, over ten times the fundraising amount of last years gala. The club sold 140 tickets for the event and also received money in the form of donations or from the silent auction that featured student and local art.