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The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs will recognize NPRE graduate student Yun Di with the 2008 Joseph H. Smith Student Leadership Award for his contributions to the Chinese student community on the Urbana campus. Di will be recognized May 3 during a reception at the Illini Union Ballroom.

As vice president of the Chinese Scholars and Students Association, Di led in organizing recent Annual Moon Festival GALAs. Similar to Thanksgiving in America, the festival is a traditional holiday for the Chinese to celebrate the harvest with their families.

Hoping to reach audiences outside the Chinese community, Yun introduced changes to the traditional festival starting in 2006. His efforts were intended to broaden across campus the cultural understanding and enjoyment of the celebration’s entertainment.

New performances were added to the line-up, including Latin tango dances and hip-hop dances, as well as traditional Chinese programs. Yun also led in providing English captions of performed dialogues and transcripts so that viewers were aware of essential cultural backgrounds to add to their enjoyment of the shows. Furthermore, Yun increased promotion of the event with local media outlets, leading the 2006 and 2007 GALAs to drawing audiences of 1,400 each in Foellinger Auditorium.

According to the nominator, Yun's efforts "greatly improved the appreciation of Chinese culture around campus" and has helped the Moon Festival GALA become "a bridge essential for mutual cultural understandings and appreciations."

Writer: Susan K. Mumm, editor/alumni affairs coordinator, Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, 217/347-2166.

(posted 4 Apr 2008)