GLKxFSU Olivia Rodrigo Knight
The Filipinx Student Union executive board with the notebook they created at the event (Photo courtesy of Regan Russell).
On Friday, Feb. 23, Geneseo Late Knight (GLK) and the Filipinx Student Union (FSU) co-hosted an event together called “Olivia Rodrigo Knight.” The event took place in the College Union Programming Space (CUPS), and ran for three hours beginning at 8 p.m. Rodrigo’s music was played throughout the night while students decorated notebooks. The notebooks, along with the decorations, were supplied by GLK and FSU—making the event completely free for Geneseo students. Students could draw whatever they chose on their notebooks and place stickers wherever their hearts desired, creating a wide variety of results from participants.
Along with the music and notebooks, FSU taught participants about Olivia Rodrigo and her Filipino heritage. I spoke with the co-presidents of FSU about the event and what inspired the unique idea. Lona Tucci, a junior sociomedical science major with a minor in human development, and Kaela Dimalig, a junior psych major, planned the gathering and were ecstatic about the opportunity to talk about the event and share their ideas.
As was taught at the event, Olivia Rodrigo is a 21-year-old Filipina American who has gained an incredibly large social media following over the past couple of years becoming an incredibly popular figure amongst teenagers and young adults. Although she has such a large following, many do not know about her Filipino heritage, and because of this, Tucci and Dimalig recognized the opportunity to educate students on the topic.
“We don’t have that big of a Filipino demographic [at] college, so I feel like since she’s so popular it was a really good event to educate people,” said Tucci. Dimalig also pointed out that “[Rodrigo] is going on tour now, so it’s perfect timing.” Rodrigo just began her world tour for her new album “Guts,” and has gained the interest of thousands of fans trying to buy tickets for a show. The timing was also convenient for decorating notebooks with midterms coming up as students could use their newly decorated blanks for studying.
Aside from the convenience, Rodrigo became the ideal center for this event because of her large role in mainstream media. “It’s just nice to have [Rodrigo] because we don’t have any Filipino celebrities in mainstream America, so it’s just nice to be able to celebrate,” said Tucci.
The event aimed to “provide a community and safe space for those who are Filipino-identifying and those who appreciate our Philippine culture” as all of their on-campus events and meetings do. FSU hosts a variety of other events on campus—both fresh and recurring. Their biggest event is their highly anticipated cultural dinner, which is hosted in April and always garners a large crowd. The club also has general meetings, which are open to all students regardless of their background. They can be attended biweekly on Thursdays at 7:15 p.m. in the Multicultural Center. For future events hosted by both GLK and FSU be sure to check the events calendar on the Geneseo website. For more information on FSU, students can visit the Instagram account @fsugeneseo or email them at fsu@geneseo.edu.