FUSO makes history at annual Friendship Games

For the first time since its founding at USD, FUSO won the Friendship Games, proof of the importance of community and unity, especially during the pandemic. 

Jenny Han / Asst. Opinion Editor

FUSO (Filipino Ugnayan Student Organization) is one of many multicultural clubs here at USD. Over the past month, FUSO participated in the annual Friendship Games, the largest student-run Filipinx American event in the nation, and for the first time in FUSO history, came out in first place.

FUSO is a multicultural club that aims to highlight Filipino culture and heritage through a combination of cultural dances and sharing of Filipino values within the club. It was founded in 1993 based on the idea of a mother’s love for her children. FUSO also uses its platform to bring awareness to current events and social justice issues. Although many of the club members are Filipino, you do not have to be Filipino in order to join. The word “Uganyan” translates to “unite” or “link” which connects to their overall focus on creating a family and community away from home.

FUSO holds many cultural events throughout the school year. One significant event is PCN (Pilipino Cultural Night) where some of the board members of FUSO write a play about Filipino values and the club members of FUSO perform it. Another significant event that FUSO holds is Kamayan Night: a night where people are invited to eat the Filipino traditional way of eating using one’s hands.

Friendship Games is the biggest event that FUSO participates in every year. The events bring together many of the Filipino clubs from California colleges, although Filipino clubs in Arizona, Hawai’i, and Nevada also participated this year.

FUSO has competed in Friendship Games for 27 years. The main idea of the games is to celebrate the concept of SPUF: spirit, pride, unity, and friendship. Although Friendship Games is normally held in person with dance performance and competitive physical games, everything had to switch to a virtual format due to COVID-19. The objective of Friendship Games was to win as many points as possible from Oct. 19 to Oct. 24. First, the clubs had to first make several social media posts every single day under a certain theme such as Memory Lane Monday and Quarantuesday. Each club also raised money for COVID-19 relief in the Philippines where each dollar donated equated to one point. A picture of the club’s representative for FUSO was also posted on the USD FUSO Instagram page where one like equated to one point. Each club also had to create a TikTok that highlighted SPUF.

Afterward, the top three schools would compete in Final Rampage: an event where all the finalists compete against each other by playing a game. This year’s game was a Kahoot game about Friendship Game’s history. Among the 35 clubs that participated this year, USD’s FUSO reigned first place for 2020.

For FUSO President Lord Mark Bautista, Friendship Games is significant to him because “it gives a chance for Filipino organizations to externalize and come together as a community to bond and meet other Filipinos from different organizations.” To him, it was important to do so because it affirms to him that the Filipino American identity is both diverse but also similar in some ways. Winning the Friendship Games showcased to him the sense of community that FUSO has.

“Even though FUSO is small compared to other Filipino organizations, with about 200 general body members, everyone came together to fight for a common goal. FUSO and Friendship Games have been the highlight of my college career and winning Friendship Games for the first time was both surreal and amazing,” Mark said.

Vice President External of FUSO, Mariel Bautista, also emphasized the importance of community in FUSO.

“I didn’t think that many people would participate this year because I thought that the energy that FUSO creates for Friendship Games in person couldn’t be replicated virtually,” she said. “However, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that all the club members from first-years to alumni came together even stronger than before to generate the energy and motivation to win.”

The core theme of SPUF resonates with the pillars that have given them a community and home at USD. FUSO and Friendship Games gave her a sense of home at USD and winning the games demonstrated how much this organization and community meant to the students.

For both Mark and Mariel, being a part of FUSO wasn’t just about finding a sense of belonging. It also has helped them embrace their Filipino heritage. To Mark, being Filipino means embracing its complexity.

“Being Filipino and a Filipinx American is far from just a monolithic experience,” he said. “Being a Filipinx American is something that is unique to each person that identifies as such and I think that’s the beauty of it.”  

Although there is a sense of bayanihan spirit in the community, every person has a different Filipinx American experience that really showcases how communal yet individualistic being a Filipino is like.  

For Mariel, being a part of FUSO means a lot to her because she used to take her culture for granted, primarily because she grew up surrounded by other Filipinos. When she started to attend USD however, she began to realize how much being Filipino meant to her and it gave her the motivation to truly begin embracing her identity.

“Being different is okay,” she said. “I take pride in not just myself but also my community through the foods that I eat and the values that were instilled in me by my parents.”