Montana
MSU Billings cultural showcase events bring India to Montana
BILLINGS — At Montana State University Billings, this semester’s cultural showcase is all about India—a celebration of its vibrant traditions, rich history, and the students who bring these cultures to life.
Each year, the Office of International Studies chooses a different country to focus on during the fall semesters. They host events to showcase that region through programming, movies, and free events for the community to attend.
Isabel Spartz/MTN News
“We decided to go to India predominantly because we’ve had a large influx of Indian students, and we really rely on local community to help put this on,” said the school’s Associate Director of International Students Abby Cook.
This is their fourth year of holding themed semesters that began in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic to help students feel connected to other cultures and feel less isolated.
“We were still on a bit of a hiatus for travel and bringing in new students due to COVID, so we were thinking about how can we bring the world and just different cultures to MSU Billings to the Billings community as well, so that’s kind of the brainchild of the theme semester program,” said Cook. “It is funded predominantly by a grant that we have from the Department of Education.”
On Thursday, they held one of their last events of the year, the Indian Cultural Showcase. MSUB students from India had the chance to show off various regions of the country through music, dance, singing, clothing and presentations.
Isabel Spartz/MTN News
“It’s just generally a really great event that brings the community together and celebrates culture and diversity in a very colorful way,” said Cook. “The community that comes, especially those on a regular basis, they adore it. It is all volunteer, I would say, and it is all something that is done on a very low budget, so it’s just managing the expectations. We are not bringing in people from India to do performances. Everything’s kind of homegrown.”
Over a dozen international students at the university are from India. Sophomores Mansi Luthra and Noor Deep Kaur are both from the northern Indian state of Punjab and have helped run the events throughout the semester. They said the year has been an opportunity to reconnect with their roots while sharing their culture with the local community in Billings.
Isabel Spartz/MTN News
“Most of my classmates, they love Indian outfits. When I wear these outfits, ‘Oh, I love your earrings, I love your bangles,’ so those compliments just rejoy my blush,” said Luthra. “These kind of events rejoy your life, make you feel like you are a part (of something), and you are worthy. That’s a great thing.”
“It’s exciting to tell them about our own culture, and sometimes we are not afraid about things which are really important to us and people might ask about it and then we have to explain them. It’s like, ‘Oh that’s really different. We do that thing in a different way,’” added Deep Kaur.
For many international students like Luthra and Deep Kaur, the transition to a new school in a foreign country can be a difficult and isolating experience. The first year is often filled with challenges.
“First year was crazy, adapting to new technology of assignments, being feeling loneliness, homesick, all those feelings together,” said Luthra.
Over time, the girls found comfort in their shared heritage, and through their Indian student group, they found a sense of community.
“Then you cope with classes, with making new friends, especially I have a very good group of Indian friends here, so it just feels like home now,” said Luthra.
Isabel Spartz/MTN News
For them, the event and chance to perform was an important reminder of the strength and diversity of their cultural identity.
“We get to know each other’s culture and we grow as a community. That’s really I think one of the best parts of this multicultural club and International Office doing this stuff,” said Deep Kaur.
The semester has helped create a bridge between international students and the wider Billings community, and as a reminder that we are all more similar than we think.
Isabel Spartz/MTN News
“It’s important to showcase that we are all unique in our traditions and our cultures, yet we all still love to dance. We all still love music. We all still love to sing,” said Cook. “It brings a unique tone to the Billings community also because they can see, ‘Oh, this is in my community. We have people who are from India. We have a Japanese community. We have a French community,’ so I think that’s really powerful, and it helps them to get involved on a more personal level.”
For the students involved, the event is more than just a cultural showcase, but a way to reduce the isolation often felt by international students. By sharing their traditions, Mansi and Noor have been able to make the place they now call home feel a little bit closer to the one they left behind.
Isabel Spartz/MTN News
“I’m getting to know people and my friends. My bones are growing more stronger and so that’s why I’m feeling good now. Yeah, I’m feeling less homesick,” said Deep Kaur.
“I really love how people embrace Indian culture. Their eyes shine when they see us performing, singing, being in our outfits, they compliment us, and they make our day and nights,” added Luthra.
Their final two events will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Babcock Theater for a showing of the film “I Have Found It,” and on Thursday, Nov. 21 at the MSU Billings Rimrock Cafe from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. for their Indian Cuisine Night. Click here for more information.
WASHINGTON ― Montana Republican Senate nominee Kurt Alme, who previously served as his state’s U.S. attorney, cut a plea deal in 2020 that allowed a tribal police officer who sexually abused a 6-year-old girl to serve less than a year in prison and avoid being registered as a sex offender.
Alme, who has President Donald Trump’s backing in his bid for Senate, served as Montana’s U.S. attorney in two stints. Trump appointed him both times; Alme served in the role from September 2017 through December 2020, and then again from March 2025 through March 2026.
Alme oversaw the case of Mychal Thomas Damon, who was indicted in June 2019 by a grand jury on one count of abusive sexual contact with an individual under 12, which carries a maximum punishment of a lifetime in prison, a $250,000 fine and no less than five years to a lifetime of supervised release. The average sentence for this crime is less severe, but still significant: 62 months in prison, no fine and 143 months of supervised release, based on an analysis of 2025 data provided by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Damon, 28, had admitted he touched the 6-year-old’s genitals. But in February 2020, Alme’s office filed a plea deal in his case that reduced his charge to felony child abuse.
The changes in the plea deal raised the alleged age of the victim from below 12 to below 14, stripped out the language of sexual intent and moved the offense out of the federal sex crime framework, meaning Damon would no longer be required to register as a sex offender. It jointly recommended Damon be sentenced to the time he’d already served of 324 days, and required only a sex offender evaluation. Alme’s name appears on the bottom of the document, along with a signature by his assistant U.S. attorney, Cassady Adams.
In June, Alme filed a sentencing memorandum that described Damon’s conduct, which included details of him touching the child’s vagina with skin-to-skin contact, and the adverse effect it had on her mental health. Local reporting at the time said the victim had told a therapist “Mychal touched me” and hurt her by putting his fingers in her “hoo hoo.”
Ten days later, Alme announced Damon was being sentenced to time served of 324 days and two years of supervised release. As of June 2026, Damon is not listed in the national sex offender registry or in Montana’s Sexual or Violent Offender Registry.
It’s not clear why Alme reduced the charges against Damon as significantly as he did. During part of his tenure as U.S. attorney, his office declined 64% of sexual assault cases. He conceded in a 2019 interview that this “is something that has to be worked on,” and noted that a lot of these cases are declined due to “weak or insufficient evidence.”
Asked what happened in Damon’s case, an Alme campaign spokesman on Thursday lashed out at unnamed Democrats for trying to make him look bad.
“Kurt’s liberal opponents are twisting the facts to manufacture a fake narrative that exploits crimes against women and children,” said Alme’s spokesperson. “Department of Justice policy required defendants to plead to the most serious charge readily provable from the evidence. Kurt strongly supported the Multi-Disciplinary Teams on our Native American reservations, led by his office, to support investigations of crimes against children and to support victims.”
His spokesperson also pushed back on the idea that Alme unreasonably declined a large number of sexual assault cases during his tenure as U.S. attorney.
“Kurt’s office prosecuted every viable sexual abuse felony referred to it and pursued the most serious charge readily provable from the evidence,” the spokesperson said. “Many ‘declined’ cases were to allow more appropriate tribal prosecutions ― they were not dropped. Kurt will bring his years of experience prosecuting criminals and working with the Sexual Assault Response Teams on our Native American reservations to the U.S. Senate to strengthen investigations, support victims, and better protect women and children.”
The campaign pointed HuffPost to a 2010 report by the Government Accountability Office that found the most common reason for U.S. attorney’s offices to decline sexual abuse cases referred in from Indian country was “weak or insufficient admissible evidence.” It also highlighted statements of support for Alme in an October 2025 press release by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), when he celebrated Alme being confirmed as U.S. attorney.
Alme is currently running for Daines’ Senate seat, and Daines went out of his way to clear the path for him. In a stunning and orchestrated maneuver, the two-term senator in March abruptly withdrew from reelection as Alme filed to run for his seat, minutes before the state’s filing period closed. Daines’ last-minute change-up was an effort to block potential Democrats or any major Republican challenger from jumping into an open Senate race.
Alme is taking on Democrat Alani Bankhead and independent candidate Seth Bodnar in the November election. Bankhead and Bodner have been duking it out for weeks, with each appealing to different factions of the Democratic party and calling on the other to drop out.
Bankhead, a retired Air Force officer, unexpectedly won the Democratic primary earlier this month, boosted by grassroots supporters and more than $2.5 million in outside money from a progressive veterans’ PAC. But Bodnar, a former University of Montana president who did not appear on the primary ballot, has bipartisan endorsements from prominent establishment figures, including former Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and former Republican Gov. Marc Racicot. He’s also significantly outraised Bankhead and Alme.
This Senate seat is rated “solid Republican” by the nonpartisan Cook’s Political Report, meaning Alme is well-positioned to win the general election. But this race would be more competitive if Bodner and Alme were going head to head, without Bankhead in the running.
Where Khloe Kardashian Stands With Ex French Montana More Than 10 Years After Breakup
French Montana is done keeping up with reality TV.
In fact, he only agreed to appear on Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Kourtney & Khloé Take the Hamptons over a decade ago as a favor to then-girlfriend Khloe Kardashian.
“She said to get on the show,” he exclusively told E! News at the BET Awards on June 28. “And I got on the show. Shout out to Khloe.”
The “Ever Since U Left Me” rapper, who split with Kardashian in December 2014 after eight months of dating, said the experience was “fun” because her family kept it real.
“They filmed their real life,” he continued. “And we were part of something together that one time. So it felt great. It didn’t feel like work because they film what they do everyday.”
As for his future in reality TV, the 41-year-old said those days are over, shutting down any prospective offers with a simple, “Negative.”
Although the “Unforgettable” artist—whose real name is Karim Kharbouch—may not be returning to television anytime soon, he has no problem hanging out with his ex-girlfriend these days.
-
News27 minutes agoRep. Tom Kean returns to Congress, says depression is why he went missing for months
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoLeBron James informs Lakers he will play elsewhere next year
-
Detroit, MI2 hours ago5 realistic cornerback trade targets for the Detroit Lions after Terrion Arnold’s release
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours agoHeadlines, June 30 – Streetsblog San Francisco
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoLIVE | Ivory Coast, Norway meet for World Cup knockout match at Dallas Stadium
-
Miami, FL2 hours agoEvery Dolphins head coach’s start in Miami from worst to best
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoHistorian clears up one of the biggest myths about the Boston Tea Party
-
Denver, CO3 hours ago
Nemanja Jokic, the older brother of\u00a0Denver …
