No matter how you’re celebrating Valentine’s Day, whether it be with your significant other, friends, family or with your own company, there are many ways to join in the festivities at Lehigh this February.
Ranging from speed-friending to plush-making to rock-painting, student organizations of different cultures and interests will be hosting events to partake in.
The Love Jones Gala, an annual semi-formal event hosted by the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), will be taking place in the Great Room at Lamberton Hall on Saturday, Feb. 10 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
NSBE president Alyssa Weeks, ‘25, describes the gala as a completely student-run “mini-homecoming,” where anyone in the student body can dress up, come with friends, bring a Valentine’s date and even perform in front of peers.
The gala’s namesake comes from the 1997 film, “Love Jones.”
“The movie is about these two people who fall in love, but it also encompasses poetry, photography, music and dancing, and how all that plays into Black culture,” Weeks said.
In the spirit of the movie, the gala encourages students to embrace their art, creativity and culture, as well as their peers. There is a sign-up sheet for students attending the gala to reserve a time to perform song, dance, spoken-word poetry or any other type of performing art, Weeks said.
“It’s a great way to get more comfortable with just being on stage or to share something close to you,” Weeks said. “For example, I’m an engineer, but I really love to sing. Engineers don’t usually have the space to explore those other extracurriculars and passions, and this is a space for students to do that.”
The Buy Your Boo a Boo event, hosted by the Paranormal Investigative Club, will be held in the lobby of the Fairchild Martindale Library from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12 and Tuesday, Feb. 13.
The club will be selling pre-made crocheted ghosts for $5 each, Brynna Morris, ‘25, Paranormal Investigative Club’s co-president and founder, said. This way, those on campus can buy their “boo” their own cuddly ghost!
Alana Shuman, ‘27, is hand making around 100 ghosts in preparation for the event, as fundraising chair, Morris said.
Buy Your Boo a Boo is the Paranormal Investigative Club’s sole fundraising event of the semester. Morris said the funds raised go directly into purchasing equipment and funding investigations.
“We want to expose the Lehigh environment to the paranormal,” Morris said. “We want to research the history and the human interest stories behind mainstream paranormal locations, and then we want to go to them and figure out if it actually is paranormal activity.”
Currently, club equipment includes electromagnetic field readers, laser grids and motion detectors, Morris said. They’re hoping to be able to expand the club, their scope of equipment and the types of investigations they can perform.
A Southeast Asian-inspired plush-making event will take place in Room 101 of the Health, Science and Technology building on Thursday, Feb. 8 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m, hosted by the Southeast Asia at Lehigh organization.
“We’re making felt plushies with templates of different Southeast Asian themed animals, like the national animal of Thailand would be an elephant, or a tiger for Malaysia, or East Timor would be the crocodile,” president of Southeast Asia at Lehigh Ashley Nguyen, ‘27, said.
Nguyen said at the event, there will be felt of all different colors, templates, hot glue, markers, needles and thread, and stuffing for the inside, all of which students can use to create their own plush animal.
The executive members of the club will be presenting about different Valentine’s Day celebrations across Asia at the plush-making event, Nguyen said.
One of these celebrations includes Single’s Day, which originated in China, where singles treat themselves with presents, Nguyen said. This celebration is slowly becoming more recognized throughout the world.
Another celebration is White Day, which originated in Japan, but is celebrated in many parts of Asia, including Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, Nguyen said.
Other upcoming Valentine’s Day events on campus include:
- LU Kapamilya’s Balikbayan Box Making; Feb. 7 at 5 p.m.
- Break the Silence’s 5 Senses of Consent; Feb. 7 at 6 p.m.
- Community Growers’ Valentine’s Day Rock Painting; Feb. 8 at 4:30 p.m.
- Colleges Against Cancer’s Valentine’s Day Gertrude Hawk Chocolate Sales; Feb. 13 at 12 p.m.
- Phi Sigma Pi’s Candy & Petals Valentine’s Day Sale; Feb. 13 at 12:15 p.m.
- Spectrum’s Speed-Friending; Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m.
- Engineers Without Borders’ Valentine’s Day Flower Sale; Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m.
- The Latinx Student Alliance’s Cupid’s Bachata Speed Dating; Feb. 13 at 7 p.m.
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