By Chelsea Hyppolite
The Caribbean Student Association was founded before or around 2017. Jerianne Clarke,
Class of 2026, and Taylor McCollin, Class of 2025, revived it in 2022! Through hard work and
dedication, the Caribbean Student Association was rebuilt through telling everyone that they
came across, postering and keeping Instagram active and word of mouth.
The goal of the Caribbean Student Association is to foster acceptance through education
and community. This includes providing a space for Caribbean People to celebrate our culture,
learn more about our region, share experiences, and create a space where we are understood and
others can relate in some capacity, as well as space to educate non-Caribbeans and share
Caribbean traditions, food, music, and all aspects of culture. With hospitality and positive vibes,
the Caribbean Student Association ensures that everyone feels welcome and seen!
To further accomplish this goal, on December 5, 2025 the Caribbean Student Association
had our Inaugural Culture Show: Echoes of the Islands at the Michigan Theater! A culture show
is a media program that showcases and celebrates the diverse customs, arts, and traditions of a
community or region through music, dance, poetry, and other artistic expressions. Our show
consisted of different elements showcasing Caribbean culture, including:
★ Music: A Live Singer and a separate guest steel drum performance by The Island Guys
★ Poetry: Two Poets Sharing Personal and Powerful Pieces
★ Dance: Afro-Caribbean Fusions: Puerto Rican Bomba, Jamaican Dinki Mini, and
Garifuna Punta, Dominican Folklorico Mangulina, and Soca Fete
★ Modeling: Cultural and Carnival Wear
★ Acting: Transitioning through the various performances with charm and humor
This event was open to all members of the University of Michigan community, as well as to the public!
Through this experience, we each deepened our complexity to effectively lead through
this being all of our first experiences leading the production of a culture show! We developed a
nine person planning committee, with each committee member holding the responsibility to lead
the accomplishment of one, or more of the following: performance choreographing, funding,
costume design, script and performance planning, advertisement etc. A challenge we overcame
was simply learning how to work together and our different leadership and work styles and
adapting to unforeseen circumstances, such as navigating accumulation funding difficulties. The
Caribbean Student Association’s Culture Show is relevant to the practice of leadership through
providing a unique project management experience, and we are so proud of ourselves for
working together to put on a fantastic show!
Our next step is to apply the skills we have developed this year to have another Culture
Show in December of 2026! Thank you so much to the Barger Leadership Institute for your
invaluable support, and thank you all who read our story!
