“Anthro Day of Love” was a celebration combining Charles Darwin’s birthday, Anthropology Day and Valentine’s Day at Cosumnes River College on Feb. 14.

The event that happens once a year was hosted by CRC’s anthropology professors and took place in the Learning Resource Center from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“It shows the students that the teachers actually care and they’re trying to interact with them in a non-classroom setting,” said Ivan Rodriguez, 22, a photography major. “I think they should put together more events for a wider range of subjects.”

The event originally celebrated Charles Darwin’s birthday, which is on Feb. 12.

“Three years ago the American Anthropological Association came up with Anthropology Day, which takes place on Feb. 16,” said Anastasia Panagakos, a professor of anthropology and the coordinator of Anthro Day of Love. “This year we figured that we would meet right in the middle on Feb. 14 and call it our ‘Anthro Day of Love.’”

Anthropology is the study of humans and their evolutionary history, and Charles Darwin is an important figure in anthropology because he contributed to the science of evolution.

“Anthropology helped me understand myself a lot better,” said Panagakos. “And the more I learned about anthropology, the more I fell in love with everything it has to teach us about people’s cultures.”

The faculty members have been organizing this event for five years.

Students participated in activities, explored the lab and ate dessert the staff provided. They also had a cut-out of Darwin to take pictures with.

“There is food, there is a quiz on Darwin, raffles for T-shirts designed with the American Anthropological Association logo; also, there’s buttons and pins, and a chance to meet faculty and other students,” said Jason Edmonds, an anthropology professor.

This is an opportunity for letting students know the lab exists because it’s a great study space for students and they have an instructional assistant who is here to help with tutoring with their classes, said Panagakos.  

“I think it’s a good way branching out to the students and appealing to a particular interest they might have,” said Tristan Lloyd, 19, a journalism student.

The lab displayed a collection full of human bones, replicas of human bones and skeletal models of primates.
The professors invite students who are interested to use the lab, which is located at LRC-103.