International Week is set to begin this Sunday. Programming will consist of events sharing international culture all week, closing with the International Street Fair.
International Student Union will begin International Week or IWEEK on Sunday with a main focus on showcasing the Bobcat international family and campus efforts toward cultural integration.
International Week became an annual celebration in 1979, and the Street Fair has been celebrated on Court Street since 1982.
“One of the cool things that I’m really proud of this year is reaching out and connecting with organizations through reoccurring events that already happen,” said Ellie Koewler, a senior studying anthropology and an events specialist. “You’re kind of getting this whole new body of people that they don’t even realize that they’re attending an international week event.”
Koewler works for International Student and Faculty Services and is the main planner in the subcommittee outside of ISU.
Domestic students will be able to attend international versions of weekly events during IWEEK such as Flavor of the Week, the How-To Series, Acoustic Café and Craft Night.
“I would say I’m excited for the International Street Fair, because it’s my first time,” said Awa Sall, a first-year graduate student from Germany studying international development studies. “So I’m excited. I only heard good things about it.
Everyone has said that it’s exciting and festive.”
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Apart from the fair, the week consists of returning events like the ISU World Cup, and the International Talent and Fashion Show. Omar Kurdi, vice president of ISU, said the most prominent event during the week and the one that takes the most planning is the International Street Fair.
The International Street Fair starts at the intersection between Union and Court streets, and is closed off from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The International Week and the International Street Fair are budgeted to cost ISU $16,000 together. The World Cup and talent show to take place during the week will cost an additional $1,500 and $500, respectively.
“The International Street Fair wouldn’t happen without the member orgs participating and having tables and drawing in crowds,” Kurdi said. “We have other events that week that need volunteers, and we need over 100 volunteers to pull these events off.”
ISU receives sponsorship from outside organizations as well as a subcommittee that is dedicated strictly to the planning.
“It is intense, and we start planning the first week of Fall Semester. We have a committee that’s outside of ISU,” Kurdi said. “We have collaborations from the Campus Involvement Center, the UPC, BSCPB. We have collaborations from International Student (and) Faculty Services, the Office of Global Opportunities. We’re working at multiple events per day with those orgs.”
Kurdi said the collaborations were well appreciated since it’s difficult for one volunteer-run organization to solely take on the week.
“One thing being apart of ISU, we ask our member orgs put on our events, just like in International Dinner when they helped with all of the cooking,” he said. ”We ask them to help us.”
A goal of the week is to entice domestic students to possibly look up ISU and make them curious about the diversity on campus, Koewler said.
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