On Thursday evening, the Asian Student Union (ASU) organized their first Maid Cafe to raise funds – with low expectations on attendance. 

“We weren’t expecting the event to be as popular as it is,” said Charmae Medina, member of ASU’s multimedia committee.

As doors opened at 6:30 p.m. in Grand Palm 3 for the first session, students arrived with the “ASU Maid Cafe <3” playing in the background as male members of the board dressed as maids greeted them with “welcome master.” The female members were dressed as butlers awaiting to serve attendees. 

“I think it was a really fun environment, something very new that no one else did before,” said Tania Alan, a junior majoring in computer science attending the event. “So it’s something very unique, and I thought it was really nice.”

Members had to add an additional table and chairs due to the unexpected influx of people. 

“That was the hardest part: accommodating people and making sure we’re organized to actually have a running operation,” said Medina.

Medina was the sole female maid going by “Cakepuff,” and presented the other maids to attendees. All of the maids went by “cute” food names such as “mochi” and “cookie.” 

For both sessions, maids drew messages and pictures with Hershey chocolate syrup, served snacks and drinks, took pictures and played table games with attendees.

There were also guest appearances from ASU’s Atlantic ZeNami dance group and Next in Action (NIA), FAU’s Korean pop dance team. NIA promoted their upcoming showcase. 

ASU sold $5 tickets that included snacks and entertainment. According to Imani Pettigrew, the organization’s treasurer, the event cost around $200 and members were only expecting to reimburse supplies. At the end, 69 students attended and raised a total of $345.

Klark Balay, ASU’s conference chair, went by the name of “Caramel.” He proposed the idea of the maid cafe back in October, after he saw a pop-up maid shop at Supercon in Miami.

Many students present shared that the “fun” and “interesting” theme of the fundraiser caught their attention. 

Brianna Lopez, a sophomore psychology major, praised the organizers for this unique theme.

“I enjoyed the event and the people who hosted the event. Some people might find it weird and stuff, but [ASU] managed to pull it off,” said Lopez.

ASU members were satisfied with the results and have considered hosting a similar event in the future. 

“I was initially worried that people wouldn’t be so enthusiastic about it,” said Medina. “But I was really happy to see everyone getting into it, and committing the whole cute play.”

For more information about ASU and their events, visit their Instagram.

Ma. Emilia Santander is the Copy Desk Chief at the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, you can reach her on Instagram @emilias_ed or email her at [email protected].