Filipino Culture Club members help themselves to food provided by Dr. Gonzalez at her house (Courtesy of FCC).

I joined WashU’s Filipino Culture Club (FCC) on Oct 24 at a dinner hosted by our Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Dr. Anna Gonzalez. Though the dinner was at 6:30 p.m., the event truly began when students met at the Clocktower before walking over together. Here, I witnessed — among some FCC members and some non-FCC members, between Filipinos and non-Filipinos — automatic and seemingly magical bonds forming. 

Students conversed about how much they miss Filipino food, as well as deeper topics such as never feeling authentically Filipino since they didn’t learn much about their culture as a child. Though I’m not Filipino myself, I was fascinated by how immediately welcomed I felt by the group.

The conversations continued as the group strolled to Gonzalez’s house, less than five minutes from the South 40. Once we arrived, she stood at the door and welcomed each individual, waving us in with a welcoming hello, even hugging some. 

We gathered in the living room, and Gonzalez gave a short speech, beginning with, “All of a sudden, I can’t speak any Tagalog!” She emphasized her desire for everyone there to get to know each other and build community and had the FCC executives introduce themselves. 

“With that, really make [yourselves] at home,” Gonzalez said.  “We’ll have you here for about an hour, hour and a half, and then we have to kick you all out because I don’t want you all walking [in the rain]…[T]he lights are there, and the tables. And there’s food.” As Gonzalez described the list of food, the group cheered for their favorites.

The feast consisted of lumpia (egg roll), lechon (pork), pancit (noodles), white rice, sisig (made from parts of a pig’s face and belly), and chicken liver (seasoned with calamansi, onions, and chili peppers, which FCC Director of Digital Content Strategy, Ria Sharon, described as “awesome” and “yummy”), as well as desserts. As we went through the line, members would take photos of the setup to send to their families later. 

Though she said the entire downstairs area was open, most students sat in her backyard under fairy lights. Here, Gonzalez circled around every table, asking each person “What’s your name? What year are you? Where is home for you?”

Over cheesecake and ube ensaymada, I chatted with Sheryl Mauricio, WashU’s Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.

“I’ve never seen this many students come together around Filipino culture,” she said. For students who don’t know how to find Filipino food in the area, there’s a lack of community. “I think [that] for us to be able to share that with the students would be great — for them to have resources when they’re feeling like they’re missing home.”

Mauricio agreed that bonding over shared culture is automatic. “From my perspective, [it’s] like you guys [have known] each other for a really long time,” she said. 

Mauricio also said that the Filipino Culture Club and its members are personally important to her. Gonzalez, who is half-Filipino, stands as an important representation for Filipino students.

“It’s rare [to] have someone at her level who’s Filipino. So, we’re hopeful that this is an opportunity for students to see that they have someone who looks like them in leadership,” she said.  

Mauricio admires Dr. G’s commitment to outreach and building relationships with students, and strives to do the same in her work. “[There are] not many people who look like me. It’s important that, when I meet students who identify like I do, […] I’m there for them,” she said.

As the dinner wrapped up, FCC members started filling up to-go plates with desserts. After seeing one person’s shirt and another’s necklace, Mauricio took photos and jokingly schemed about possible FCC merchandise designs. 

I found Trish Gomez — FCC advisor and WashU’s Associate Director of Operations at the Academy for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion — who told me about FCC’s history. 

Gomez told me that the club started in 2020, during the pandemic. The 2020 executive board worked hard to find new executive members who would carry on the legacy of the club. 

Current FCC president and junior Alana Depaz has been pleasantly surprised by the amount of interaction and membership that FCC has gotten since the start of the year, despite a smaller Filipino presence on campus.

“I remember I came to WashU freshman year (and it was COVID) and I did not meet a single other Filipino person…I didn’t know [FCC] existed until spring semester [of] last year,” she said. 

The club is also working on fundraising for organizations that support the Philippines, as well as outreach with SLU’s Filipino Student Association. 

“Our main goal is to build community,” Depaz said. “We’re able to share all the different things that people wouldn’t be able to experience without us being here.” 

Depaz stressed the fact that FCC is not just for those who identify as Filipino, but for anyone who wants to learn about and appreciate Filipino culture. The warm feeling that I had on the walk back to my dorm — along with my to-go plate of desserts — made me feel like I was included in the community. 

“It’s easy to erase your own culture or history when it’s not the dominant identity of the community you’re in,” Gomez said. “Being in a predominately white institution, it feels like you’re othered or like you don’t connect with anyone. But when you have places like this, you just feel so much more connected.”