Courtesy of JCal Photography

Organized by the Asian Christian Fellowship (ACF) with the help of several other Washington University organizations, the Dining Staff Appreciation Banquet featured performances, a student-made video and food.

Groups performed every half hour at the banquet. WU Cypher, the breakdancing club at Wash. U., was the first group to appear. Then, Jack “Jack Swaggy P” Peng and Shawn “Shawn the Sheep” He sang a rap to display their gratitude for the dining staff.

“This rhyme is a celebration of Wash. U. dining staff’s dedication,” they rapped.

“Jammin’ with Phil,” a band made up of Wash. U. students and dining staff member Phillip Sutherland, who works in Cherry Tree Cafe, also appeared. The band opened for Macklemore last year at WUStock. The Aristocats, the all-Disney a cappella group at Wash. U., was the last group to perform.

ACF began preparing for the event in September. They also worked with Overflow, the inter-denominational Christian student group at Wash. U. Other groups such as the Asian Multicultural Council also helped fund the event. Do One Thing (DOT), a group at Wash. U. that focuses on positivity and the power of small changes, attended the banquet as well.

Students who could not attend the banquet but who still wished to express their gratitude to the dining staff could write thank you notes or appear in a student-produced video. In this video, some students thanked the dining staff for their friendliness, while others issued shout-outs to their favorite members of the staff.

“We definitely wanted to encourage students to come and show their appreciation for the staff in person and get to know them a little bit better,” said Jessica Pei, a junior at Wash. U. and member of ACF.

Junior Alvin Su agreed with Pei.

“We wanted to branch out and reach more people,” Su said.

The banquet allowed students to interact and mingle with members of the dining staff, getting to know more about the people that they see every day.

Freshman David Gumins, who attended the banquet with DOT, was very pleased with the event.

“This is super awesome,” Gumins said. “We just had an impromptu flash mob with dining services staff and students.”