Union Board Hosts Cultural Food and Fashion Event
Fourteen student clubs joined the Indiana University Union Board event featuring cultural foods and a runway show at Presidents Hall.
Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Fashion
The IU Union Board hosted "Taste Around the Runway" on Sunday from 6 to 9 p.m. in Presidents Hall in Franklin Hall, with over 100 students attending. Fourteen student clubs and associations participated, sharing cultural foods and featuring models in outfits from countries including Hong Kong, Mexico, India and Japan.
Why it matters
The event gave students a shared space to experience cultural traditions through food and fashion on the Bloomington campus. It also showcased how student organizations can collaborate to represent their heritage to the wider university community.
The fashion show ran about 15 minutes with around 20 models, all students representing IU cultural organizations, within a three-hour event. No prior attendance figures were reported for comparison.
The players
Indiana University Union Board
The student-run programming body of Indiana University's Bloomington campus that organizes events, activities and services for students.
Sanjana Jain
An undergraduate senior at Indiana University who serves as global connections director for the Union Board and led planning for the event.
The details
Each participating organization shared some of its cultural foods with attendees and had the option to have models walk the runway. Sanjana Jain, an undergraduate senior and global connections director for the Union Board, began planning the event several months earlier after becoming director in August.
Timeline
August: Sanjana Jain became global connections director for the Union Board and began planning the event.
Sunday, 6 to 9 p.m.: Taste Around the Runway was held in Presidents Hall in Franklin Hall.
Sunday, 7 p.m.: The fashion show began during the event.
Season Trajectory
The event extends the Indiana University Union Board's global connections programming by combining cultural food sharing with a student-modeled runway show. It reflects a format in which student organizations represent their heritage through collaborative campus events.
Students interested in similar cultural exchanges can look for participating student organizations and their food-sharing events on campus. The event was held in a single evening, so future versions would likely require checking Union Board announcements for timing.
The takeaway
Student organizations can use shared events like this to introduce their cultures to peers through food and fashion. Participation across 14 groups shows how collaborative programming can broaden campus engagement.
Further reading
Explore more Bloomington fashion coverage to see how campus style and culture events fit into the wider scene.
Source note: This article includes information reported by COLUMN: 'I Love Boosters' features wacky surrealist visuals and hilarious comedy - Indiana Daily Student.
