Lunar New Year Celebrated at Kean

Reporter/ Margaret McCorry

The Lunar New Year begins on Saturday, January 28, 2017 and Kean University celebrates with Student Organization (the full-time undergraduate student government), Graduate and Part-Time Student Council (GPSC), throwing a Lunar New Year celebration in the Miron Student Center Alumni Atrium (MSC).

This year is the year of the fire rooster, who is said to be known for being trustworthy, punctual and responsible.Performers captivated the crowd with the lively and colorful Dances of the Dragon and Lion, a traditional part of the Lunar New Year celebration, and revelers enjoyed food and music from Asian cultures.

For the approximately 100 students from Wenzhou-Kean University (WKU) currently studying at Kean USA, the celebration had special significance. We are able to enjoy the New Year while we are so far away from home,” said Shengda Zhou, the president of the student group WKUSA and a finance major from Ningbo, China, “I usually get red packets (gifts of money wrapped in red paper) for the New Year, but I didn’t get any this year. Still, I am celebrating the Year of the Rooster.”

Anyone born in the Year of the Rooster is considered hardworking, resourceful, courageous and talented. In Asia, the Lunar New Year is a time for family celebrations.

For Ken Lin from Wenzhou, China – a WKU student and an officer with WKUSA – the Kean community became his family. “It’s my first time celebrating the Chinese New Year in America and it’s very different,” he said. “It’s very good to see these kinds of activities here. The celebration was very traditional.”

Senior William Harrison, an Asian Studies major who studied at WKU last fall, says the celebration brought the Kean community together.”I’m happy to be part of it and meet the new Chinese students from Wenzhou,” he said. “We are able to give them a part of their home.”