While students at SUNY Old Westbury might not talk about K-pop as much as hip-hop, K-pop is a popular music genre at the university. It can also inspire a sense of comfort among fans.

During a regular Monday, on April 13, 2026, student Cheyanne Paul heard an unexpected lecture regarding the subject.

“It was something that I was interested in,” said Paul. “I feel like we learned very good things when it comes to the depth, the background, the culture, the traditions and how it’s improving and still improving on to this day.”

Professional musician and professor Paul Carlon, who teaches Music of Global Culture at SUNY Old Westbury, decided to introduce his class to the world of K-pop, which is a subject that is often of interest to music lovers all around the world but also here at SUNY Old Westbury. Carlon showed a video of K-pop sensation BTS performing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

“I try and cover a lot of various styles from around the world,” said Carlon. “That includes traditional music and contemporary music. I couldn’t not cover K-pop, you know, I mean, it’s so current and so big right now.”

K-pop, also known as Korean pop, originated back in 1950 with a three member girl group called The Kim Sisters. They successfully performed on the Ed Sullivan Show 22 times. Then in 2012, Psy, also known as Park Jae-sang, released the global success “Gangnam style,”a song described to mock Seoul’s Gangnam district, an area prominent for high end luxury.

“I liked the music when I was in middle school and it just clicked with me,” said Nicole Howard, a senior in media and communications at SUNY Old Westbury.

K-pop was so popular at SUNY Old Westbury that there was once a club dedicated to the genre of music. Rumor has it that the reason the club fell in 2025 was due to the lack of members. With the rise of popularity for K-pop at SUNY Old Westbury, some have thought about bringing back the club. Howard, for one, thinks it could be fun.

“I don’t know, maybe like an event just like playing the music, doing karaoke,” she said.

Kiarra Taylor, a freshman who loves K-pop, also thinks a club could be a good idea.

“I think it would be cool to get someone who’s good at dancing there so we can learn to choreograph,” Taylor said.

Greta Gibson, a freshman and a K-pop fan, said she would welcome a new club.

“I think that would be really interesting and I would probably join,” Gibson said.

The benefits of K-pop, she said, go beyond the music.

“I really got into them when I was in a difficult time in my life,” she said. “And it really helped me though that I just really like their unique music.”