Dedicated to Diversity: VCU Senior Guides Intercultural Festival Growth

By Mike Porter

With an unparalleled passion for cultural diversity, Virginia Commonwealth University senior Hassan Ahmed could almost be nicknamed “Mr. Multicultural.”

Ahmed, a chemistry major from Northern Virginia, has played an active role during his four years on campus in the popular student-run Intercultural Festival at VCU, which is scheduled for this weekend.

It was an interest in diversity that helped to attract him to VCU.

“I saw how diverse VCU was. It’s just crazy how many cultures there are here,” Ahmed said.

Ahmed learned about the Intercultural Festival during his freshman year and volunteered for the marketing committee at that year’s festival. He served as the marketing co-chair as a sophomore and became programming co-chair during his junior year. This year he is festival co-director.

“I’ve grown as a person since becoming involved with the festival,” Ahmed said. “We put so much work into it and then on the day of the festival, seeing so many people enjoying themselves makes me unbelievably proud.”

He’s played an integral role in helping the festival grow and change during his four years of involvement and helped to relocate the festival in 2009 from the University Student Commons Plaza to a larger and more visible site in Monroe Park.

“The move to Monroe Park was a big change,” Ahmed said. “It’s such a nice location and accessible to the community. The kids can see it from their dorms and stop by to check it out.”

Ahmed already had four years of festival-planning experience under his belt when he arrived at VCU. His longtime interest in other cultures flourished when he entered Dominion High School in Sterling. Dominion opened in 2003, Ahmed’s freshman year. And as the new school looked to establish its own traditions, Ahmed started a multicultural club to celebrate the school’s diversity. The club sponsored a yearly multicultural festival that featured a Friday assembly with a performance for the community.

“It was really fun planning for the festival,” Ahmed said. “It was something to look forward to and I liked it.”

This year’s Intercultural Festival theme is “It’s a big world, after all,” something Hassad Ahmed figured out at a very young age.

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