MU welcomes international students

The International Welcome Party was held in Stotler Lounge.

By David Conway

Published Feb. 2, 2010

Students from around the world gathered Sunday in Memorial Union for MU's semi-annual International Welcome Party.

The event, hosted by the Department of Student Activities International Programming Committee and the Missouri International Student Council, featured 16 student organizations representing 12 nations, and a diverse array of ethnic cuisine.

The event welcomed the 110 incoming international students to MU this semester and also gave domestic students a chance to interact with the university's international population, DSA Director Ben Hansen said.

"This is an opportunity for the international community to be welcomed by the campus as a whole and the several international organizations," Hansen said.

Those organizations, most of which served food from different parts of the globe, frequently held the same goals of integrating international students while teaching the general student population about the culture of others.

The African Student Association holds a number of events to increase awareness of the African student body, President Chimereze Oji said. Future events include an African Week in March and a forum for African and African-American students to interact with one another.

"We try to educate the whole campus about the African community here and how Africa is advancing," Oji said. "We let them know that Africans live at and go to Mizzou."

The Friendship Association of Chinese Students and Scholars was present to promote China Night, an event showcasing Chinese culture to the student body on Feb. 13, spokesman Xin Meng said. At the same time, it works toward helping Chinese students on campus.

"Most of our members come from China," Meng said. "We offer services to them to get used to what's going on around here."

Hansen said the event was well attended.

"If you can have people lining up for 20 minutes for an event like this, I think there's obviously something they're interested in," Hansen said.

Others felt Stotler Lounge wasn't a suitable location for the event. Robin Marahatta, a Nepalese student who arrived at MU one month ago, said he had to wait more than 30 minutes before getting in.

"I think the venue was a bit small for the crowd," Marahatta said.

Another troublesome element for organizers was attracting American students, Hansen said. Senior Ashley Enders, who attended with several Saudi Arabian friends, said she found the event enjoyable.

"I love the atmosphere," Enders said. "All of the different cultures coming together is really interesting and the food is awesome."

Despite any shortcomings, the reaction of international students to the event was generally positive. Graduate student Yan Wen, who came to the university from China one semester ago, said events like this made the transition to MU smooth.

"As soon as I got here, I knew I could always find someone to help me with whatever," Wen said.

Marahatta said, despite the wait, the event was helpful in welcoming him to the international community at MU.

"I never knew there were so many people from so many different countries, Marahatta said. "The food is good, and I get to know that I'm not the only international student here."