20 Mar “How You Like That?” — ASI’s K-Pop Night Shines!
- ASI’s K-Pop Night on March 13 celebrated K-Pop with music, dance, food, and photo ops, bringing together fans and highlighting Korean culture.
- The event featured performances, random play dance, photobooths, and photo card trading, fostering community among K-Pop enthusiasts.
- K-Pop’s rise from niche to mainstream was celebrated, with fans expressing their connection to the genre and its growing global influence.
Students check in for the highly anticipated K-Pop Night. / Credit: ASI CSUF Marketing, Communications & Design
Filled with music, dance, fashion and food, Associated Students Inc. hosted their third annual K-Pop night on March 13 at the Titan Student Union Pavilions to celebrate everything K-Pop related.
What was once considered a niche genre of music, has generated over 9.2 billion streams in the U.S. across all audio and video platforms according to a data report by Luminate.
Bands like BTS, BLACKPINK, Stray Kids, TXT and more, continue to steal the hearts of adoring fans all over the world.
In collaboration with Cal State Fullerton’s K-Pop club and Seoulful, a K-Pop cover dance team, ASI’s programming department planned this event aiming to bring the K-Pop community together.
“K-Pop Night is really important as a tradition just because we don’t have other events that highlight K-Pop,” ASI Programming student assistant April Tran said. “It helps us tap into the Asian community at our events.”
Highlighting the genre and Korean culture, the night boasted boba from Wushiland and Korean snacks from H-Mart. K-Pop traditions like random play dance (RPD), a Korean photobooth and photocard (PC) trading were also a big hit with students.
“Mic Drop!” Owning the Dance Floor
CSUF’s K-Pop dance group performs to “Igloo” by Kiss of Life. / Credit: ASI CSUF Marketing, Communications & Design
Seoulful kicked off the night with a performance to “Igloo” by Kiss of Life. Member of Seoulful, Jackie Le explains the inspiration behind the dance team’s outfits and performance.
“In one of [Kiss of Life’s] performances, they wear a lot of black, leather, and silver. So we wanted to show off a ‘sexy’ and ‘punk’ vibe’ of K-Pop,” said Le.
After their performance, the RPD was an immediate icebreaker for those who were a bit shy in the beginning. A K-Pop RPD invites fans to dance to short snippets of songs they recognize by jumping in and out of participating in group dances as they please.
A K-Pop RPD invites fans to dance to short snippets of songs they recognize by jumping in and out of participating in group dances as they please. / Credit: ASI CSUF Marketing, Communications & Design
CSUF student Jamie Louie was applauded for dancing to many K-Pop hits and was often one of two people on dance floor performing to lesser-known songs. The dance aspect of the genre plays a significant role in her love of K-Pop.
“The [RPD] is the one thing I look forward to every time K-Pop Night comes around,” said Louie. “I met some of my closest friends through the K-Pop dance team and especially in the dance community, everyone is super supportive of each other.”
Although dancing was the main event, one highlight included the opportunity to bring memories home through photos.
Strike a Pose! Memorable Photo Moments
Two students pose with a poster board of Sunghoon from Enhypen. / Credit: ASI CSUF Marketing, Communications & Design
One fan-favorite moment of the night included life-sized poster boards of top idols: Jennie and Rosé from BlackPink, Soobin from TXT and Sunghoon from Enhypen.
In addition to the posterboards, students also posed in Korean-inspired photobooths like Life4Cuts at The Source in Buena Park. The set-up involved props like sunglasses, hats and plushies with multiple filters to choose from.
“I didn’t expect the photobooth to be this nice, but after coming here I feel they did an exceptional job and it’s awesome,” said CSUF student Rachana Panduranga Naidu. “I wish I could take the posterboard home!”
Pictures were not the only item attendees could bring home; trading photo cards was a fan-favorite moment.
“Oh my, Oh my God!” Found the Perfect Card
Students trade photo cards of their favorite idols. / Credit: ASI CSUF Marketing, Communications & Design
One of the fun aspects of the K-Pop fandom is collecting and trading photo cards (PC) of idols. The cards are commonly included in official merchandise and can be sold online. Fans connected with fellow avid collectors, sharing their enjoyment of PC trading.
“Meeting other people who like the same groups that you like and conversing about that and the satisfaction of giving someone else a photocard and gaining one,” said CSUF student Madysen Brown. “Building that community through photocard trading is really fun.”
From food, music, dance, photo-ops and pc trading, fans were united at the Titan Student Union making lasting memories.
From “Nobody” to Coachella: K-Pop’s Rise
Students applaud and record Seoulful’s performance. / Credit: ASI CSUF Marketing, Communications & Design
Prior to the early 2010’s, K-Pop was initially a niche genre for Americans until the band Wonder Girls found themselves in the mainstream media with their song “Nobody” being the first South Korean song to chart in the Billboard Hot 100. In 2012, Psy’s “Gangnam Style” blew up globally, paving the way for K-Pop stars to become mainstream artists in the U.S.
Today, the love of K-Pop is ever-growing among Gen-Z as seen at ASI’s K-Pop night.
“K-Pop is something that always made me feel very connected with myself,” said Felix Nicol, event-coordinator for the CSUF K-Pop club. “Connecting through my identity as a person of color, through my queerness and my age.”
K-pop Night graphic made by ASI student graphic designers./ Credit: ASI CSUF Marketing, Communications & Design
A common theme with students and K-Pop is the community that is built through the love of the genre.
“It’s a way to connect other people with the same interests and I’ve made many friends through K-Pop club and K-Pop in general,” said Nicol.
With K-Pop at its peak, idols are finding themselves on notable stages like Coachella in 2025. Fans can expect to see Blackpink’s Jennie and Lisa, ENHYPEN and XG perform at the highly anticipated, annual music festival.
As the night came to a close, ASI’s K-Pop Night highlighted the vibrant community of K-pop enthusiasts and Korean culture fans at CSUF.
Want to join in on fun events planned by ASI’s programming department? Check out what event is next on the ASI website!