Sitting down to chat with senior Kotheid Nicoue proved surprisingly easy. Between being a diversity advocate for the University of Iowa Student Government, primary representative for the African Student’s Association, an RA in Stanley Hall and co-president of Walk It Out, Nicoue keeps busy. But he was more than willing to make time to talk about his biggest project right now, Walk It Out.
The Walk It Out fashion show will take place this Saturday, April 7 at 8 p.m. in the IMU Main Ballroom for the third year in a row. Created three years ago by the presidents of the Black Student Union, the Indian Student Alliance and the Asian American Coalition, Walk It Out was born from the vision of having a huge collaboration of diversity that students can run for themselves.
“Through Walk It Out people are given the opportunity to come together, people that would never come together and would never say ‘hi’ to each other except for Walk It Out,” Nicoue said.
Nicoue participated as a model in Walk It Out’s first fashion show three years ago. But before the second semester of his sophomore year at Iowa, he wasn’t involved in any student organizations or clubs.
“My first year I didn’t do a lot, just school and work,” Nicoue said. “I knew something else was missing.”
Born in Togo and moving to the U.S. when he was 13, Nicoue feels that Walk It Out is especially important to students like him.
“Coming from a different cultural background and being raised in the U.S., I had the feeling of being lost on campus,” Nicoue said. “Walk It Out allows people to learn about each other.”
Realizing that Walk It Out was something special, Nicoue is now the co-president along with Hannah Chong. As more people are becoming aware of Walk It Out, Nicoue and Chong’s responsibilities are growing. Starting auditions for this year’s models back in the fall, Nicoue was overwhelmed by the over 150 models that attended. But because Walk It Out has grown to featuring 15 student organizations this year, over 100 models were needed for the show.
Nicoue has also kept busy preparing for the show by gathering funding, finding sponsors, tracking down authentic cultural clothing, promoting and everything else that comes with running a fashion show right down to giveaway bags for those that attend. But to Nicoue, Walk It Out is more important because of what goes on before and after the show than the show itself.
“It’s a movement more than a fashion show,” Nicoue said. “It gets people talking about cultures and interested in getting to know you for who you are.”
This year’s Walk It Out will be an event you won’t want to miss, guaranteed. The show will feature fashions from Hip-Hop, East Asian, LGBTQA, South Asian, Middle Eastern, African and Latin American regions. Appetizers from the different cultures featured in the show will be provided at 6:30 p.m. before the show begins at 8. Though admission is free, Walk It Out has chosen to collaborate this year with the HIV/AIDS clinic as it is something that effects every region of the world and encourages donations to the clinic at the door.