Cosumnes River College celebrated the 50th Hmong New Year on Nov. 18 with an event that featured traditional clothing, music and a traditional fighting performance.

The celebration brought together students, staff and local Hmong youth organizations to honor the half-century celebration for the first time on campus.

Student services assistant Kayno Vang hosted the event and shared his intentions behind the project.

“I wanted to let our Hmong population of students and staff know that we have a community here and that we are here,” Kayno Vang said. “We’ve never had an event like this.”

Kayno Vang said what inspired him to plan the event.

“It’s good to have pride especially in our community, especially since we are refugees and still relatively new to this country,” Kayno Vang said.

The Hmong People fled from Laos after the Vietnam war to America as political refugees, with Sacramento ranking in third place with the highest Hmong population behind Fresno and Minneapolis, according to Pew Research Center.

Linda Vang, student support specialist and one of the event coordinators representing Asian American Pacific Islander American Desi American HAWKS center, said there were challenges when putting the event together.

“We were really struggling to find community members to find time in their busy schedules,” Linda Vang said. “A lot of the resources here are from all over Sacramento going as far as Davis.”

Linda Vang said she was influenced by some of the past campus cultural celebrations.

“A big inspiration I got was from CRC’s Filipino American History month. They really play such a big part in showcasing and leading events,” Linda Vang said. “We have a lot of students here that want to embrace and connect with their history.”

Ducatii Phradogxay, a 23-year-old linguistics major, said it’s important to celebrate one’s culture.

“It’s an appreciation of our ancestors and our roots,” Phradogxay said. “I learned from my family that when you lose your cultural identity you lose a part of yourself.”