APISU & Jamba Juice Team Up for 4th Annual Luau

After a large turnout during last year’s event the Asian Pacific Island Stu­dent Union (APISU) will again be throwing their annual luau on May 30, 2015.

This is APISU’s 4th luau at UW Ta­coma and is expected to be the biggest yet. APISU officers have been teaching and learning different types of dance in sessions held in the University Y studio rooms every Friday and Saturday since November 2014. These sessions will continue up until the luau on the 30th.

Alyssa Ng, president of the APISU says, “The annual luau is an end-of-the-year event that is meant to showcase cultural costumes and dances to families, friends, and community members.”

Tickets for the luau are currently being sold Mondays and Wednesdays at the Commerce Plaza during lunch hour at $25 per ticket; the tickets will be $30 at the door. The event will start at 5 p.m. and will close at 9 p.m.

Last year, there were an estimated 300 people who attended the event held in WPH; APISU was even forced to turn people away due to lack of seating.

This year, the event will be held at the University Y in student centers 303 and 304, which will hold a bigger crowd.

The group welcomes everyone to attend the event. The overall group mis­sion is, “Promoting Asian and Pacific Islander culture by creating a supportive family atmosphere endearing to positive life and learning through student and community involvement.” It is the goal of the group to share a variety of differ­ent cultures, dances, and to meet new people.

The luau will feature Hawaiian-style barbecue food and have dances and traditional clothing from various island nations such as Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Ta­hiti, New Zealand, and the Philippines. Clothing and materials for the perfor­mances were purchased and homemade by the performers all throughout April and May.

Jamba Juice is also sponsoring the event. The company provided their sig­nature fruit smoothies for $3 to help fundraising efforts throughout the month of April.

To Ng, the significance of the luau is community: “Previous attendants and participants of the annual luau have told us it is their favorite event of the school year, and that they look forward to a bigger and better luau every year,” she said. “After months of preparation, the members grow extremely close and have become what we call our ‘UWT Family.’”