DEI Department

Lunar New Year is a holiday that originated in China but is very widely celebrated by many Asian countries. This holiday is also widely known as Spring Festival and globally celebrated by over two billion people. Lunar New Year begins on the first new moon of the lunar calendar and lasts for fifteen days. This year, Lunar New Year will start on January 22, 2023. It is a time of the year to come together with close friends and family. The Lunar New Year’s Eve dinner, also referred to as the ‘reunion dinner,’ kicks off the holiday. Families often come together and prepare a feast with symbolic dishes that bring good luck and fortune. The first full moon marks the final and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year. The final day of the holiday is known as the Lantern Festival, during which people often carry lanterns and enjoy sweet treats to mark the end of the celebration. In the Chinese zodiac, 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit, specifically the Water Rabbit. The Rabbit symbolizes peace, elegance, and prosperity. We want to also acknowledge that many Asian American and Pacific Islanders do not follow the Chinese/Lunar zodiac.

January 27th is Designated as International Holocaust Remembrance day. International Holocaust Remembrance Day serves as a date for official commemoration of the victims of the Nazi regime and to promote Holocaust education throughout the world, rejecting any form of Holocaust denial. Commemoration ceremonies are held to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism. Each year the UN designates a theme for the annual commemorations; the theme of 2023 is “Home and Belonging” which asks us to reflect on what these words meant to persecuted individuals during the Holocaust and its aftermath.

Adopted from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum