On Saturday, March 29, the annual Ankh’sgiving dinner was held at Beckham Hall to celebrate students of color at the University. Dozens of students were in attendance.
Since its inception in 2019, Ankh’sgiving has been organized as an opportunity for students to discuss the challenges they navigate as people of color at the University, gathering together to network and showcase their talents.
“Ankh’sgiving was an amazing opportunity to pause from the business of Wesleyan and be in a space of people of color who express themselves in a variety of ways, like dance, singing, and instrumental performance,” Amber Bretz ’27 said. “Essentially, it was a mini network event of the arts and creative expression.”
This year, the event was organized by a planning committee of students, including Sierra van Wijk ’25, Danae Williams ’25, Zain Punjwani ’26, Tenzin Jamdol ’25, Harmony Hoogs ’27, Kailer Brothers ’25, and Oluchi Chukwuemeka ’25, in collaboration with the staff of the Resource Center. The event was financially supported by the Office for Equity & Inclusion, College of East Asian Studies, African American Studies Department, Economics Department, College of Education Studies, Anthropology Department, Dance Department, College of Social Studies, College of Science and Technology Studies, Sociology Department, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department, Fries Center for Global Studies, and the Department of American Studies.
Ankh’sgiving was first organized by Arline Pierre-Louis ’19, who named the event after an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph.
“Although the origin of the Ankh is unknown, historians have come to a consensus that the Ankh represents life and rejuvenation,” the Ankh’sgiving Planning Committee wrote in a campus-wide email. “Egyptian hieroglyphics depict ankhs being held in gods’/ pharaohs’ hands showcasing their life giving power.”
The event kicked off with dinner from cuisines around the world, including Indian, Mexican, Jamaican, Thai, halal, and Nigerian food from local Middletown restaurants. Tables occupied the first floor of Fayerweather, staffed by both affinity-based student organizations, who spread awareness for their groups, and vendors, who sold art pieces, jewelry, clothes, and baked goods.
This was followed by a set of performances in which students of color expressed themselves through dance, music, and other acts. Attendees expressed their appreciation for the safe space provided by the event to be themselves and learn about the backgrounds and aspirations of people from different cultures.
“Through the event, I learned that one of my closest friends wrote music [and] that a student on campus is trying to revive Bollywood dancing,” Bretz said. “I felt very safe to perform in a community of people that looked like me. It was a comforting and really cool experience to share such a powerful and important theatrical piece about a Nigerian immigrant with a diverse group of individuals.”
One of the performances included a musical recitation by Naomi Ivie ’27. Two other students sang karaoke following Ivie’s performance, to encourage all the attendees to further engage in the event.
“I also used my performance as an opportunity to share my faith,” Ivie said. “I first performed an original song that was a breakup song and then a song that led to my relationship with Jesus. I feel nervous to share my faith with people, but I think people were super receptive, and I’m very grateful for that.”
This was followed by a Bollywood dance performance by Tanvi Navile ’25, who leads WesMalai, a South Asian dance group on campus. The focus of the show was a one-act performance by Ivie and Bretz about being an immigrant in the United States. The event concluded with more musical performances by Hoogs, Natalie Kim ’28, and several other students who came together for a night of celebration.
“Ankh’sgiving was a beautiful and wonderful celebration,” Maya Anvar ’28 said. “There were so many talented performers and musicians. I loved the ending performance of my friend [Natalie], who sang beautifully, and their friend Harmony. Everything was amazing: really wonderful decoration, delicious food, awesome vendors, and really everything was put together well.”
Raiza Goel can be reached at rgoel@wesleyan.edu.
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