Updated as of 5:37 p.m. on April 9 to include video of the event.
Elon University’s Truitt Center celebrated the end of winter and the warmth of spring with the Holi Festival of Colors at Speaker’s Corner on April 5. Holi represents hope and new beginnings in the Hindu culture. The spring festival includes colored powder — or gulal — or colored water.
Holi aims to commemorate connection and companionship, as well as bring the community together to acknowledge diverse cultures. The festival also teaches students about India, Hinduism, and traditional stories reflected in the celebration.
University Chaplain and Dean of Multifaith Engagement Kirstin Boswell encourages students to participate in these events, which offer opportunities to learn about diverse cultures. She said the Holi festival educates students about minoritized religions on campus.
“We want to represent the diversity that we see within our community, but within the wider world,” Boswell said. “Then make sure that a full spectrum of diversity is represented because if we only went with celebrating the religious festivals, holidays, and traditions that are most represented on campus, we would be missing a big swath of religious traditions that are minoritized.”
Elon students throw powdered paint into the air in front of the Moseley Center on Young Commons to celebrate Holi on April 5.
Boswell said she wants to connect students with the spiritual and ethical practices of other cultures. She said the Truitt Center provides educational opportunities and religious guidance to support students’ identities.
“It's from a perspective of not standing on the outside peering into someone else's religion or tradition in a way that is negative or voyeuristic,” Boswell said. “But to engender a true appreciation of the identities that we see in the world around us.”
Boswell also said the Holi festival symbolizes the reblooming of beautiful colors as an act of love and community, which allows students to understand the significance and perspective of Hindu culture.
“We need to have a healthy respect for people regardless of their tradition, regardless of all the various identity markers that they hold within them,” Boswell said. “Looking outside of just yourself, but how it is that you're treating and embracing others who are different from yourself?”
Hillary Zaken is the interim assistant dean of multifaith engagement and said the Holi festival is a great way to have fun and distress from school. The Holi colors include red, yellow, pink, purple, orange, and blue.
Elon University students celebrate Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors, on April 5. More than 100 Elon students and community members celebrated on Young Commons.
“It has a religious and spiritual significance, but it's also a wonderful way to bring the community together,” Zaken said. “To welcome spring in what I think is one of the most beautiful moments when everyone throws the paint in the air after the countdown and the sky is full of color. I love it.”
Zaken collaborated with students to organize the Holi festival including their multifaith interns and Surtal Bollywood Dance Group. She said the multifaith interns are practitioners who help share diverse perspectives and experiences of religions.
Juniors Morgan Williams and Madison Williams are twins who participated in the Holi festival. As multifaith interns, they had an opportunity to research Hindu culture and learn the significance of light over darkness or good over evil.
“The planning and celebration has taught me a lot about learning about other people as far as their different values and traditions,” Morgan said. “But I also realized that a lot of the values are holy with the different colors and what they represent. I can identify with that even though I'm not Hindu.”
Morgan said as a multifaith intern, she became a global citizen and learned about humility for other cultures. She said the festival brings awareness to different regions around the world.
More than 100 students, faculty and staff came to Elon University’s celebration of Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, on April 5 held at Speaker’s Corner.
Madison said this was her first time participating in the festival so she promoted the event to her peers. She said she hopes that students use this opportunity to educate themselves about Hindu culture.
“I hope people understand that this is more than just throwing paint and that they're encouraged to look at the meanings of what each color means,” Madison said.
Surtal opened the festival with a lively performance of traditional Indian dances, such as
Bollywood and Kathak. Junior Rece Raju, vice president of Surtal, said this was a great opportunity to share her culture with the community.
“Growing up, I didn't celebrate any Indian holidays,” Raju said. “When I got to Elon and got to be a part of Diwali and Holi, it was a whole other thing for me because I wasn't really in tune with that part of my culture. And so that's why it's so special to me because I get to be a part of something that I didn't even realize was missing.”
Raju said the Holi festival is an important holiday open to everyone as a great way to immerse themselves in a different culture.
“I hope people get out of this event how special Hinduism is, how special the holidays are, and how many people it brings together from all different cultures and religions,” Raju said. “We welcome everyone.”
Freshman Pearson Dyslin said she enjoyed throwing the colors, watching the dance, and taking photos at the festival. This sparked her interest in exploring Hinduism and participating in future events.
“I thought that was a fun experience different from what I would normally be doing,” Dyslin said. “It's really fun to have colors everywhere. And maybe I'll save my shirt.”