Correction: Friday, Oct. 4 8:15 a.m. — The original article misspelled Colonnades. The mistake has been corrected in the article. Elon News Network regrets this error.
Elon Dining can be found in dining halls across campus, but tonight, they could be found in the Kivette classroom.
Terry Tomasek, faculty director of the Colonnades neighborhood, had the idea to host a Burmese-style dinner for the Colonnades neighborhood after reading the 2019 Common Reading, "Futureface." The book is being discussed in the freshmen Global Experience classes.
“I partnered with some of the [Global Experience] classes, kind of spread the word through that,” Tomasek said.
Students enjoyed a cooking demonstration of a traditional Burmese dish, mohinga, prepared by one of Elon’s chefs.
“I enjoyed partnering with our dining services, Harvest Table, and so this was a great opportunity to bring in some of their talents and skills and to give them an opportunity to interact with students in ways they don’t normally get to do,” Tomasek said.
Amy Chilcut, assistant director for academic and residential partnerships for dining engagement, said for events, she relies on faculty “to be innovative.”
“[Faculty] reach out to me whenever they have some ideas. We are trying to do more with the common reading, and so this was a great opportunity to spearhead some of that and to see what we can do in the future,” Chilcut said.
Students waiting for a cooking demonstration at the Colonnades Burmese-style dinner.
Freshman Nyles Geiger said he found out about the event through his Global Experience class when Tomasek came to visit. Geiger was one of the students that helped make the mohinga and said his favorite part was being able to participate in the demonstration.
“My favorite part tonight… eating it, definitely. But my second favorite part was taking part in the process to actually produce the food you know, it’s almost like I took part in the culture,” Geiger said.
Casey Claflin, guest experiences manager for Elon Dining, said these events are not just fun for students, but for the chefs as well.
“I know from our chefs' perspective, they love like learning new things, and also interacting like face to face with students, whereas sometimes they're behind the scenes so much that they don't get out in front of students as much.”