This year's library party, branded "Pangaea: One World, One Party," will feature a smorgasbord of internationally themed entertainment, all in Perkins Library Friday night.
Campus musical mainstays the Soulless Dogs Blues Band and Panda Force will perform, but the award for longest distance traveled will certainly go to Cafe Funque, a funk and samba band based in Rio-as in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Also on the bill is Durham Ethiopian reggae ensemble dub Addis.
The party, which is sponsored by the International Association with Campus Council Duke University Union and Duke Libraries, will see Perkins, Bostock and the Link converted into an African area, a Middle Eastern and South Asian oasis and an East Asian zone.
The Link, already known for being soulless and plastic, will make the easy conversion to Eastern European techno joint "Club Pangaea," featuring a DJ and performances by Defining Movement and Stop Motion Crew.
Pangaea will also feature foods from around the world and four bars on cash and FLEX. There will be a senior champagne toast at 9:15 p.m., with proceeds benefitting the Aalok S. Modi Global Health Fund, in honor of Modi, a student who died suddenly one year ago and would have been a senior.
"The International Association for a longtime has been trying to create on campus events that would help raise awareness about other cultures and also bring about change to integrate domestics and internationals," said IA President Nayantara Atal, a senior. "We thought the library party would be a great way to do that."
Union to replace Coffeehouse PA
The Duke University Union allotted $5,800 to the Duke Coffeehouse for the acquisition of new speakers Wednesday at its executive board meeting. The East Campus venue has been having sound difficulty since it reopened in the Fall following its $30,000 renovation.
According to a proposal from Coffeehouse General Manager Andrea Marston, a senior, fixing the system woudl cost $12,000. In addition to the money the Union is already providing, $2,000 will come from DUU's depreciation fund and the remaining $5,000 will come from the Coffeehouse budget.
The Coffeehouse's speakers have been in use for 15 years, Marston said. She added that they were donated secondhand.
"We're not really a legit venue when we have those speakers," Booking Manager Jen Fuh, a junior, said of the soon-to-be-replaced speakers.
The quality of the sound system in the Coffeehouse is important to its success. Fuh said the venue is modeled after Chapel Hill's Local 506, a bar that hosts a mix of local bands and higher profile musicians on its stage.
Other Durham venues, like drug- and alcohol-free Bull City Headquarters and the recently opened Pinhook bar, bring indie bands to the Bull City. Fuh said the Coffeehouse, because it is a BYOB-space with shows that are free to students as well as one of Durham's older venues, has a unique appeal.
"Durham sees it as this chill place where you can do what you want," Fuh said. "I want it to have the same scale as Local 506."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.