By: Jehiely Balabarca
Editor’s note: Due to the nature of our campus, several Accent staff members, including the
author of this article, are involved in some of the organizations mentioned in this story. Despite
such personal connections to the topic, we have made every attempt to eliminate bias and cover
the issue accurately and fairly. The content has been carefully reviewed by staff members
unaffiliated with any of the organizations. We chose to quote Lydia Campbell, an Accent
reporter, in the context of her role as director of choreography for LAC. To avoid conflict of
interest, Campbell did not contribute to the writing or editing of this article.
As cultural clubs prepare for their programs this year, organizers are encountering stricter
enforcement of dance requirements, including a three-dance, 15-minute limit. They are also
facing a new historical authenticity standard that requires cultural elements to be traceable as far
back as 100 years.
These distinctions were introduced to club officers for all three cultural clubs at an Aug. 28
orientation meeting, according to Latin American Club (LAC) President Jaziel Soto.
Ben Schnell, chair of the Film and Screening Committee, said he spoke at the meeting to explain
the new 100-year standard while reminding students of the committee’s advisory role for the
office of Dennis Negrón, vice president of Student Development.
History of Dance Regulations
Controversy over cultural-night dancing did not begin this semester.
In 2023, Student Development paused dancing at cultural nights for one academic year. When
dancing returned, Negrón, described the pause as a “one-year hiatus, not a ban” in a previous
Accent article. He said the decision was to encourage clubs to expand the ways they represented
their cultures, because administrators believed dance had become too central to cultural events.
Dancing returned to cultural nights in fall of 2024, but with restrictions.
According to the previous article, at the time of dancing’s return, LAC leadership was told that
only three dances could be included. Songs still had to pass through the Film and Screening
Committee, and earlier expectations regarding the presentation of dances remained in place.
For student leaders at the time, the return of dancing was significant. Cultural club
representatives interviewed by the Accent described dance as an important part of cultural
expression and participation.
Defining Cultural Authenticity
According to administration, the committee regulations were not technically new this year.
Negrón told the Accent in an email that Southern has made no official changes to its dance
guidelines.
Schnell said many of the committee’s responsibilities and expectations were established before
he became chair. However, he identified a clearer definition of cultural authenticity as one of the
primary changes this year.
Schnell verified that the 100-year rule was first brought up this year. When asked if the dance
guidelines had changed since last year, Schnell said “yes.”
Negrón clarified that the 100-real rule is a reference point for the Film and Screening Committee,
not an official change to the dance policy.
“Professor Schnell is the new chair of the committee,” Negrón said. “That 100-year rule is really
not part of the protocol. Basically, what he asked me was, ‘When I’m screening material for
cultural night, I’m thinking about 100 years is a good time to determine if something is cultural,’
and I said, ‘That’s fine.’”
According to Negrón, there was some concern from other faculty about using a historical
timeframe to evaluate the performances.
“Dean Anthony came to me and said, ‘This 100-year rule is problematic because there are some
countries that are not even 100 years old,’” Negrón said. “I said, ‘That’s a good point. That’s why
it’s not a policy; it is like a reference.’”
According to Schnell, cultural authenticity had previously been part of the review process, but
there was not always a consistent understanding of how it should be applied. Over the summer,
he said the Film and Screening Committee and Student Development discussed the need for
greater clarity and consistency when evaluating planned performances.
“The result was the adoption of a historical authenticity guideline that looks at whether a dance
style or cultural expression has roots within the culture prior to the modern era,” Schnell said.
The committee evaluates both appropriateness and cultural authenticity, he said. Appropriateness
considers whether a performance aligns with Southern’s mission and expectations as a Seventh-day Adventist institution, while authenticity considers its connection to the culture being represented.
“The intent was not to limit cultural celebration,” Schnell said, “but to create a more objective
framework for evaluating performances and ensuring consistency from year to year.”
Cultural Clubs React
Student leaders from the Black Christian Union (BCU), Asian Club and Latin American Club
(LAC) told the Accent that expectations communicated this school year have affected how they
approach dancing, music and other elements of their programs.
Ian Bermudez, a senior health science major, Asian Club vice president and Asian Night
director, said Asian Club learned about the guidelines during the cultural club orientation
meeting.
He understood that administrators wanted to see more traditional aspects of the cultures and less
emphasis on modern developments.
“I was a little shocked when the new guidelines were given to us during the meeting,” Bermudez
said.
When he shared the information with the Asian Club’s leadership, he said their reaction was also
one of surprise.
The guidelines have required Asian Club to change its format, including the number of students
who will be able to participate in dances. However, Bermudez said he does not view those
adjustments entirely negatively.
“We’ve had to change up our format and outline for this year’s Asian Night; however, I believe
that we’re evolving into something better,” he said. “We’re creating new, fresh and fun ways that
we can showcase Asian culture that don’t rely on dancing.”
The historical emphasis has presented a different challenge for BCU.
A BCU officer familiar with cultural night planning, whom the Accent granted anonymity due to
concerns about repercussions, said BCU learned about the historical requirement after
preparations for its program had already begun.
According to the officer, organizers had planned around a three-dance limitation but learned after
the school year began that cultural elements would also need to meet the 100-year historical
standard.
“We were so shocked,” the officer said, adding that organizers often begin preparing before the
academic year starts.
The timing required BCU to reconsider portions of its program, according to the officer. A larger
concern was whether reaching a century into the past could accurately represent the cultures of
current BCU members.
“What we have today is culture,” the officer said. “We don’t have to go back 100 years to have
culture.”
Part of the difficulty, the officer said, is the range of cultures represented within BCU. The
organization includes students with Black American, African and Caribbean backgrounds,
among others. The officer also questioned how easily students can find documentation of some
cultural expressions dating back to the 1920s.
“I think, yes, that is a foundation,” the officer said. “Everything builds off of each other
throughout the years, [but] I don’t think going back that far represents us today.”
Bermudez said he found more room within the historical framework for Asian Club dances.
“Asian cultures are well preserved, and the history can be dated back many years,” Bermudez
said. “We have lots of different avenues to share our culture and history.”
However, he stopped short of saying that makes Asian Club’s task easier than that of other
cultural organizations.
“I’m not sure we have an easier time meeting the requirements than the other cultural clubs,” he
said.
LAC Cultural Night
As the first cultural organization preparing a cultural night for the school year, LAC has a limited
period after students return to campus to organize participants, rehearse and prepare material for
review. LAC is also the first club to test any new or clarified dancing restrictions for the year.
Lydia Campbell, LAC’s director of choreography, said this year’s restrictions have affected their
choreography.
“We can’t include as many people as we used to,” Campbell said. “Now we’re turning people
away from a night that’s supposed to showcase their culture.”
Melina Swaisgood, a senior mechanical engineering major and an LAC assistant choreographer,
also expressed concerns over the effects on participation.
“I think this year provided a lot less opportunity for involvement just because of certain
restrictions on how many dances we could have [and] how many people could come on and off
stage during those different dances,” she said.
Swaisgood added that the choreographers were able to work within the approval and safety
requirements.
“I think that the dances at their heart don’t have anything inherently bad,” she said, “and if
something doesn’t get approved, the nature of the dance is what it is, so at that point, it’s
preference [of the committee members].”
Campbell said the historical expectation surprised her.
“You need to understand that a student’s culture is different from their parents’ culture, than
from their grandparents’, their great-grandparents’,” Campbell said. “My culture is not the same
as my parents’ culture.”
Committee Response
Schnell acknowledged that cultural identity is not static.
“Cultural identity is complex, particularly in a globalized world where traditions evolve, and
communities influence one another,” he said. “We recognize that many students experience their
culture through both their ancestral heritage and their American experience.”
Schnell said the historical guideline was not intended to invalidate those identities.
“The historical authenticity guideline was adopted not because contemporary cultural
expressions are invalid,” he said, “but because the committee needed an objective way to
distinguish between cultural representation and popular entertainment.”
Schnell said the guideline emerged through discussions involving the Film and Screening
Committee and Student Development leadership. As implementation has continued, he said,
administrators have also received feedback from students and cultural organizations.
Student feedback is valuable because it helps us understand how policies are experienced by
those participating in these events,” Schnell said. “I expect those conversations to continue as we
evaluate how the guidelines function in practice.”
He also emphasized that the committee is not intended to define students’ identities.
“My responsibility is to help administer policies that have been entrusted to the Film and
Screening Committee while treating students respectfully,” Schnell said.
For the BCU officer, the current framework has raised a more fundamental question about the
purpose of cultural nights.
“Who is BCU Night for?” the officer asked. “Is it for the committee? Or is it for students?”
The officer said the concern is not that history should disappear from Cultural Night, but that
emphasizing history will overshadow the culture students are currently living.
“This is just giving [like] a history project,” the officer said. “You want us to tell history more
than celebrate our actual culture.”
Dancing Within a Religious Institution
Schnell said balancing students’ expression and institutional policies is part of the committee’s
responsibility, as Southern is both a university and a faith-based institution.
“Students choose Southern knowing that it operates within a distinct religious tradition and set of
community expectations,” he said. “At the same time, cultural nights are valuable opportunities
for students to share and celebrate their heritage with the broader campus community.”
He said the goal is not to choose between those priorities but to allow both to coexist. Schnell
also said the current framework can continue to be evaluated as administrators see how it
operates and receive feedback.
“I do not think it is wise to assume that any guideline should remain permanently unchanged,” he
said.
Swaisgood said that, as a Seventh-day Adventist, she does not believe there is anything
inherently wrong with dancing. For her, dancing is a personal and lifestyle choice, similar to the
way people choose different dietary restrictions for themselves.
Soto said that he understands the process the committee has to go through to provide a venue
for cultural dancing on campus.
“I understand what administration is doing [with] these rules, so everybody involved at
Southern can win something out of it,” Soto said. “I’m grateful administration has worked
with us to be able to have dances.”
Communication Challenges
One of the main issues brought up by cultural club officers was gap in written and spoken
communication.
Alexis Grentz, director of Student Life and Activities, said that cultural club leaders were
given access to an online planning binder for cultural nights as of the orientation meeting at
the start of the school year.
According to Ainsly Acevedo, junior history major and LAC Night director, she had access
to a version of the document before the start of school. However, the guidelines she was
referencing only included regulations from previous years, such the three-dance and 15-
minute restrictions.
Acevedo, Soto and Campbell said that there was no written documentation of the new 100-
year limitation during their process of planning the LAC Night performance, including
during their presentation for the screening committee.
Soto said that having dance regulations clearly indicated in writing would be an important
adjustment so that clubs could have a better understanding in advance of future cultural
nights.
Grentz clarified that due to technical issues, the updated planning document clearly
stipulating the 100-year rule had not been made available to cultural club officers as of the
writing of this article.
Grentz allowed the Accent to review the updated document in an interview. She said she is
working to make it available to cultural club leaders and eventually public.
The update included a section that stated, “Any dance numbers must use music in the style of
traditional folk music from their culture, utilizing the musical styles and instruments
available before 1900. The music does not need to have been composed before 1900 – it
could have been composed yesterday – but it must be written in the musical style of that era.”
Acevedo verified that the handbook she had been referencing did not contain this update. She
expressed surprise at seeing the added information in the unpublished version.
“I got access to this [original document] at the initial meeting, but I don’t have access to the one
[the Accent saw],” Acevedo said. “I would love to know when she added that tab because from
what it seems like, on the run-through night, the committee itself did not know its own rules as
well. There were so many conversations afterwards, trying to get clarification on ‘What does
traditional mean? What does 100 years ago mean in context of every single culture?’”
Grentz explained that she was actively creating the cultural night planning document at the
beginning of the school year. She said that she was slowed down by technical issues, such as
usage limitations with Claude, the artificial intelligence tool she used to build the document. The
100-year rule was added to the document roughly a week ago, Grentz said, and trouble with
permissions on the document had prevented any of the cultural club leaders from being able to
see it.
“I would have saved so much stress if I just knew, written down, what was feasible and what
wasn’t,” Acevedo said. “We just didn’t have that. I genuinely don’t want to break rules.”
Sharing Culture
According to Soto, working through limitations has made the LAC community stronger.
“Our community has always learned to adapt, create and move forward despite the barriers in
front of us,” Soto said. “Every single problem that we have and every single upset, there’s
always something and someone who has helped us to go through those. … It just
demonstrates how resilient [we are] and how important culture is for us.”
For Bermudez, attending a cultural night is ultimately about what students and visitors encounter
there.
“I want people to see all the Asian cultures showcased as unique, intricate and beautiful,” he
said. “Every culture is different and has so many interesting features that we can’t fit into one
night.”
Swaisgood said that to her, cultural nights had two main purposes: providing a space for people
to express their own culture and allowing other students to interact with a culture that might be
new to them.
“I think it serves to give people of that culture a space to express something that they love,”
Swaisgood said. “You can’t really perform without an audience, right?”
As part Puerto Rican, Swaisgood said that her childhood was heavily rooted in music and dance,
and that for her, dancing is a way to tap into warm memories, especially after a rough week.
“It’s very freeing — I think that dance is the most pure physical expression of joy,” Swaisgood
said. “That’s how I felt this past week with LAC practices: even with everything going on that’s
crazy, LAC gave me a chance to hit pause and just dance and remind myself that I’m living life.”
Other Accent staff wrote and reported on this article.
