On Mar. 21 at 5 p.m. the Murphy Auditorium hosted diversity groups on campus as they strut their stuff and showed the Iona College community a glimpse of distinct diversity. The purpose of the event was to highlight the fashion, culture and even food of disparate diversity groups. In addition to walking in a fashion show, multiple performances were held, adding something different to the atmosphere.

‘Different than expected’ was the general consensus from students regarding the first annual Diversity Explosion Fashion Show. Most expected more fashionable items rather than the regular clothes that were displayed.

Each organization had their own theme and represented themselves in a unique way, different than a typical college fashion show. The Black Student Union called their presentation the “Blacks of the Decade” and they embodied different notable African American people. Italian Society was “Roman Holiday” and they dressed as if it was a regular day in Italy. HOLA’s theme was “Latinos Famosos” and they represented prominent Hispanics. SOCA’s theme was “Women of the Caribbean” and truly had different areas of the Caribbean to represent. Phi Gamma Chi sorority theme was “True Colors, 3 letters” where they modeled their colorful garb. Iona College’s theme was “It is a great day to a Gael” and Killian the Gael made a special appearance.

Along with the themed fashion show, there were also performances ranging from Irish Step Dance to an outside rap artist. President of the Gaelic Society Bridget Mealia, who actually did Irish Step Dancing, a remarkable talent and dance.

Turnout for the event was not great. Iona students really missed out on an exciting and soulful event. Food at the event was tasty but ran a tad behind schedule making the audiences members that were in attendance a little bit antsy.

The Diversity Explosion is rumored to become an annual event on campus. It represents a great cause that most people are not often exposed on a day to day basis to disparate cultures and environments. The night was a fun way to expose this notion to the Iona College community and a time to set aside differences and unite as one campus.

Although every seat in the house was not packed, it was a relaxing event where people could sit comfortably and enjoy the show. In all, it was a wonderful night of diversity, and one that should happen more at Iona College.