Although the power outage created a minor inconvenience to the participants and organizers of the multicultural assembly program originally scheduled for earlier in the semester, it didn’t overshadow the incentive of educating and empowering students about the many different cultures represented.

“(The power outage) made it a little bit more challenging to keep up the focus (of the participants),” Mr. Ken Barlow ‘82, vice president for community relations and diversity, said. On the original day that the multicultural assembly was supposed to occur, “everyone (was) prepared to present, then because of the power outage we couldn’t get students or teachers down to the WAC so we ultimately had to figure out a day to postpone it,” Barlow said.

Of the various outcomes from the power outage, finding a date feasible for all participants would be the most challenging, taking “four to five days to reschedule,” Barlow said. While the power outage was unavoidable, it didn’t stop the show from going on.

The assembly intended for Oct. 28 now will take place Nov. 25, with the school operating on a Day 2 Mass schedule. This assembly is important because it exposes students to new traditions of people from different cultures.Highlighting the variety of cultures represented, Barlow said, “We try to focus on Cathedral’s diversity and showcase our students (from) different cultures that we have in the school.”

While the multicultural assembly helps to amplify the diversity, it also prompts students to learn “more about (peers) that are walking next to (them) in the hallways,” Barlow said.