The Multicultural Assembly, one of Dominion’s most popular shows, was cancelled just a few days before it was set to go on January 20^th.

The assembly was founded a few years ago by Mrs. Joseph, who left Dominion earlier in 2016. With her departure, Spanish teacher Larissa Nunez took charge despite many obstacles in sight. Nunez felt prepared for these challenges because she has coordinated the Hispanic Heritage Month Assembly in the past and, being of a multicultural heritage herself, feels “truly vested in highlighting the diversity of Titan Territory.”

Unfortunately, this year, the students of Dominion did not seem to feel the same way. According to Tasneem Islam, a student working on the production of the assembly, the biggest problem they faced was “trying to find people to take part in it by dancing, playing an instrument, dancing, and singing or having a speech. What most of the students want to do is carry the flag, which isn’t good.” As of January 17^th, just three days before the show, there were only six scheduled acts.

Another big problem they ran into was the fact that the assembly fell on Inauguration Day. With Loudoun County’s announcement that there would be an excused absence for any student attending Inauguration festivities, the prospective amount of performers and audience members dwindled.

All of these problems compiled into the cancellation of the show. Nunez said, “Instructional time cannot be compromised unless a show of great quality, that enhances our human experience is presented. That was not going to be the case, for we were not prepared.  With the exception of the Dance Team and Latin Dance Team, no final presentation was submitted for review, regardless of several Thursday meetings and reminders.”

Despite this setback, this is not the end of the Multicultural Assembly. “The purpose of this assembly is to expose and represent our culture, traditions and view of our country to our school’s student body,” Islam said. The beliefs of what the Multicultural Assembly brings to DHS is too important to just let go of, so they will keep fighting on.

“I can only tell you that its cancellation was painful for me. I was looking forward to an Assembly that highlighted pertinent topics to our Titan community from busting the misconceptions of the Middle East, to highlighting the Bangladesh immigrant experience, to bringing the crisis in Aleppo to the forefront of our tight knit community. To see more and more diversity represented and feel part of Titan Territory brings me great joy,” said Nunez.

Currently, the club in charge of the Assembly, the Multicultural club, is working on ways to prevent the lack of participation that they faced this year.

In the meantime, the club is working on a smaller production to promote the school’s diversity throughout Dominion. “The multicultural leadership proposed a small, informal evening celebration that would still help us bridge community and school. It is in discussion.”