Second annual TigerTies event draws over 600 students and community members

Now in its second year, the Undergraduate Student Government’s (USG) TigerTies event held on Saturday brought together more than 600 students and community members and 30 student groups and performances, highlighting international and cross-cultural connections on campus.

As the kickoff event to the Davis International Center’s International Education Week, the night featured student booths, a cultural fashion show, and food from various local vendors.

“Last year was our first time ever launching this event, and I think it was still something that people were getting introduced to,” said Karen Villanueva ’27, the executive secretary of the USG and the co-organizer of TigerTies. “Now that people understand what the mission of the event is and how it’s run, we’ve seen a lot more participation and engagement.”

Last year, over 500 students attended the event, with a similar number of student group booths and performances. On Saturday, students remarked on the diverse selection of food and activities, as well as how the event brought cultural groups together.

Eleni Staikos ’27, who tabled the Orange Panhellenic Association’s booth, described TigerTies as “a way to bring the community together.”

“Everybody has been coming around and asking questions … it’s actually been really exciting, and I didn’t expect it,” Staikos told the ‘Prince.’

“It was really nice to see all these groups come together — it’s really rare to have that happen,” said Ruoming Shen ’27, a co-president of the Asian-American Students Association (AASA).

“There’s so many fun activities, and it’s really cool to see what each cultural group brings,” Stephanie Ma ’27, a co-president of the AASA, added.

This year’s event introduced a cultural fashion show in which participants showcased traditional clothing from their countries of origin. “It was to show people where they came from, and that was a very nice aspect [of TigerTies],” said Jeremy Bao ’27, USG’s projects manager and a co-organizer of the event.

Villanueva expressed hopes to expand the reach of TigerTies to the broader graduate student and town community. “In the future, it is a big goal of ours to have it become even more open to people from all over the community,” Villanueva said. “I really hope this becomes something that we can have happen every year,” she continued.

TigerTies was sponsored by the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students (ODUS), the Davis International Center, and the Carl A. Fields Center. The event officially kicked off International Education Week, which runs from Nov. 17 to Nov. 21.

Sena Chang is a senior News writer and Features contributor for the ‘Prince.’ She typically covers town topics and campus unions. She can be reached at sc3046[at]princeton.edu.