BOSTON — It was a quiet evening, a week after spring break when ushers stood on the side of each doorway at the C. Walsh Theatre awaiting audiences. The crowd gradually walked through the doors of the theatre as 35 performers prepare for their acts.

“Attendance might be lower this year because of spring break,” said Carlye Crosby, president of Program Council and the director of Unity Week Showcase.

As friends, families, faculty, and staff took their seats, performers were ready to begin. The masters of ceremonies Jared Cain and Janc Noble began the event as the audiences laughed, shouted, and clapped.

Singing, dancing, and poetry reading filled the eyes and ears of about 100 people in the C. Walsh Theatre on the evening of March 27, 2008 as Suffolk University expressed unity and celebrated diversity through its 7^th annual Unity Week Showcase.

The ladies of Suffolk University’s Voices of Zion Gospel Choir launched the show with their six beautiful voices singing “Faithful.” In their coordinated outfits of red and black, they stood together and repeated “I rejoice today,” as they captivated the crowd with their powerful voices.

The audience was left mesmerized as the ladies left the stage. They turned it over to the energetic and active Asian American Student Association for the performance of “The Monkey Dance.” A group of males combined storytelling, hip hop dancing, and martial arts to their traditional Cambodian dance.

To slow down the pace, Zash Chinhara, a sophomore at Suffolk University, amazed the crowd as he recited, “Sex is everywhere. Hell, America runs on the stuff.” Chinhara shared his views on a kiss in comparison to sex in his recently written poem, “The Wonder of a Kiss.” His second piece, “Broken,” illustrated a broken heart in the most profound and emotional way. “The saddest thing about a broken heart is that it remembers the wrong things and forgets the important things.”

Matt Naccarato filled the ears of the audiences and surrounded the theatre with his remarkable voice as he played the piano and sang his version of “Salt of the Earth” by the Rolling Stones and “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen without a microphone.

With her sparkling personality, Alex Taylor, president of The Black Student Union, engaged the female audience in her poetry reading of “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou. “I am a woman phenomenally,” she recited. “Phenomenal woman that’s me,” shouted the female audience.

The ladies in the Voices of Zion Gospel Choir came back onto the stage a second time to sing “Great is your mercy,” combining individual singing, choir, and piano music.

Then the audience was taken back to Southeast Asia, where the Vietnamese Student Association performed their traditional Vietnamese mountain dance. Twelve performers dressed in the traditional attire of green, black, and white danced gracefully to modern day Vietnamese music.

To complement the graceful Vietnamese performance and end the night, Zash Chinhara came back for one last performance. He did not shock the audience with his compelling words, but he soothed them with his lyrics. With a guitar in his hands, he sang a song that the world can relate to. “Drop your worries, watch them fall to the ground,” he sings. “Let peace surround you. Slow down.” The piece was inspired by his mother to slow down every once in a while and take time to reflect.

The talent evident throughout the evening represents the diversity that lies at Suffolk University. This showcase was only one of many events to celebrate Unity Week, an event that not only recognizes the diversity represented within the campus community but engages students, faculty, and staff to different cultures through entertainment, speakers, open classes, food, and music.

“Being the Thursday after spring break put a lot of pressure on the performers and those of us who ran the show,” said Crosby. “It went very well and there was a great audience, I could not have been happier.”