Students at West Virginia University and Morgantown residents learned about African culture during the "Taste of Africa" event Sunday night.

The African Student Association hosted the event to give students an opportunity to learn more about what it means to be African, said Kombe Kapatampyo, president of the African Student Association.

The event had music, stories and dance that provided new insight on African culture, Kapatampyo said. This is the first "Taste of Africa" event, she said.

"We have African Night in the spring, which is a very large event, but in the fall this year we wanted to have something small and intimate instead," Kapatampyo said. "This night is about talking and fostering the community and bringing people together with things like music and food."

During the event, students from the WVU African Music and Dance group performed an African dance using drums.

Kapatampyo said many of the foods served at the event were influenced by different cultures such as samosa, a traditional Indian dish.

The event also featured a speech via recorded video by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who wrote the books "The Purple Hibiscus" and "Half of a Yellow Sun."

Kapatampyo said she chose to show the video because Adichie grew up in a middle-class family in Nigeria. Adichie could give people a different perspective on how life is like in Africa, Kapatampyo said.

"Usually, all people think Africa is based off of what they see with wars and poverty," she said. "Her (Adichie's) experience was different and shows a different take on Africa and what it means to be African."

Tanya Tandon, secretary of the African Student Association, said it is important to have events like this on campus geared toward international students.

"African students need a medium to get to know and meet each other," she said. "This way maybe new international freshman students can meet other students from their same area and find a sense of belonging."

Kathy Mayer, administrative associate for the Office of International Students and Scholars, said diversity events show that WVU is globally diverse.

"It's very important students see the different types of diversity at WVU," Mayer said. "It's an opportunity to learn from international students about other countries if a student can't travel there on their own."

Kapatampyo hopes students who attended learned something new about Africa.

"This night is about coming together even though we are away from home," Kapatampyo said. "It's a way to remind us of who we are and where we come from. It's a sense of family