October is Filipino American History Month, and this month we are featuring the Filipino Club, one of ND’s most active clubs. Even though this year is unexpected and we are all stuck at home, the Filipino Club is not stopping with their meetings, events, and activities.

This year, the club is run by seniors Noelle Hilario and Kaeli Cedeno. According to Hilario, “This year, even with our current situation, we are still trying to achieve our yearly goal of educating and teaching people about Philippine culture.” The club plans to hold virtually or socially distanced events despite the circumstances and hold monthly meetings to talk about future events and catch up with its members.

Most meetings last about 20 minutes and take place during x-period, and focus on hearing members’ thoughts, ideas, and opinions about the club and ways they can spread Filipino culture within the ND community.  Hilario said, “A new practice that we implemented last year was the introduction of a new Filipino word during the beginning of each meeting to learn more about Philippine culture.” Last year, the Filipino Food Club became the Filipino Culture Club in order to spread information about Philippine history and culture, not just food.

In past years, events included food and snack sales at lunch where they sold delicious traditional Filipino foods and Tinikling dances at Culturella. Tinikling is a “traditional Philippine dance where there are two people pounding two bamboo sticks while dancers dance in and out of it” (Hilario). 

The club is open to all students looking to learn more about Philippine culture! If you want to join the Filipino club, email club presidents Kaeli Cedeno ([email protected]) or Noelle Hilario ([email protected]).