For Taiwanese Cultural Society members, Wednesday dinner means family. Even though the food is standard dining hall fare (with an occasional grass jelly dessert), the sense of community always leaves members wanting seconds. Such meals happen every week, when the small but close-knit TCS gathers in the Eliot private dining room to catch up on weekly woes and campus highlights. The power of TCS, however, extends beyond Wednesday nights, as the organization constantly provides a welcoming space for members to be themselves at Harvard. Through campus-wide events, regular study breaks, and more, TCS is dedicated to maintaining a consistently comforting community and promoting Taiwanese culture on campus.
While TCS is not as large as many of the other affinity groups on campus, its feeling of family is strong. “The Taiwanese community may not have the scale as some other cultural organizations on campus, but we like to pride ourselves as having one of the strongest and most close-knit bonds,” Shiloh Liu ’26 said in an interview with the Independent. Liu is one of the current co-presidents of TCS, alongside Darcy Lin ’27.
Lin joined as a first-year seeking such a family. “When I first came to Harvard, I was searching for mentorship and an Asian community,” she said. “I quickly discovered that TCS is a really special organization. People look out for you and are honest with you, which is incredibly helpful when navigating an unfamiliar college campus. It’s not board-centric—everyone pitches in.”
Mollie Cheng ’26 also joined as a first-year. “I joined because I’m an international student and was looking for a warm community in college, and I stayed because I found exactly that,” she explained. “The weekly dinners became a routine to look forward to, and dinners felt like a regular catch up session with friends.” After receiving a loving welcome to the TCS community, Cheng served as one of the club co-presidents the following year in 2024, hoping to continue building a space she found so rewarding.
Although TCS is committed to uplifting Taiwanese heritage on Harvard’s campus, the organization nonetheless welcomes all identities. “Some of our members were born and raised in Taiwan, some moved to America, and some have never been to Taiwan,” Lin said. “Our mission at TCS is to create an inclusive community for everyone who is connected to Taiwan in some way, whether it be growing up there, having family ties, or even studying abroad. We are ‘small island, big family.’” Liu continued.
TCS continues to grow. “Our efforts to participate in pan-Asian events on campus [have] also been really rewarding, since TCS has grown from a small group to one with a presence here!” Cheng said.
Recently, TCS has expanded its efforts to collaborate with other Asian student organizations at Harvard. Last month, TCS, alongside the Asian American Association , the Harvard Vietnamese Association, and the Harvard Korean Association, hosted a Lunar New Year celebration in the Kirkland House dining hall. A combination of decorations, food, and arts and crafts strengthened a communal appreciation for Asian and Taiwanese identity at Harvard. TCS also regularly collaborates with the Harvard-Radcliffe Chinese Students Association. Last fall, the clubs held a screening of the movie “Dìdi,” a coming-of-age film following the story of a Taiwanese American eighth-grader growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area.
TCS is probably best known for its largest event, their annual Night Market. Last November, almost 200 attendees rushed to Quincy dining hall to secure their share of milk tea and fresh Taiwanese food from local vendors. Guests tried their hand at ring toss, darts, and cup toss to win Taiwanese snacks and candies.
Performances from students and groups like the Asian American Dance Troupe, the Crimson Cellos, and the Harvard Whistler’s Society accompanied the festivities. The night culminated with a karaoke segment, where TCS members and audience members alike gave their all to reenact their favorite Mandarin songs. TCS events like the Night Market help build the Taiwanese presence at Harvard and spread awareness of Taiwanese culture.
In Cheng’s words, one of the central philosophies for TCS is to “cultivate a Taiwanese presence on campus,” and these collaborations help provide that cultural exposure to a wider audience. This reinforces one of the organization’s biggest missions: providing a welcoming environment for students who may be unsure where to find a Taiwanese community on campus.
TCS is a place where first-years can become natural friends with upperclassmen, who offer guidance on managing the unfamiliar college experience. Both Lin and Liu echoed the importance of TCS on their first-year Harvard experience. “TCS was the first club where I made friends with upperclassmen,” Lin commented. “Finding upperclassmen whom I can feel comfortable joking around with and spending time with on a regular basis is truly something I cherish,” Liu added.
In addition to their strong on-campus presence, the TCS community extends beyond Cambridge. During breaks in the academic year, members will sometimes meet up in Taiwan to maintain the club’s “family” connections. In winter 2023, members met up with alumni in Taipei. TCS also connects with new pre-frosh in Taiwan, extending a warm welcome to the community over meals. Last year, they watched the New Year’s fireworks together in Taipei.
For many of its members, TCS represents a space where they are allowed to be themselves, comfortably. It’s a family where slipping into Chinese is commonplace, where anyone can sing along to Eric Chou, and where debates about the best drink to pair with aiyu jelly can get lovingly heated.
You can find Ajax Fu ’28 (ajaxfu@college.harvard.edu) with his TCS family at the Eliot private dining room on Wednesday nights.