International Education week offered Weber State students the opportunity to experience different parts of the world.
The International Student Cultural show drew a large crowd this Thursday. Students performed traditional music and dances from their home countries in the atrium.
A “taste of the world” table was offered for WSU students to try new cuisines throughout the week. Undria Seaton, a fourth-year student here at WSU, said she had tried some of the foods and enjoyed most of them.
Janae Hollenbeck, who works in the International Student Office as a part of Admissions and Recruitment, discussed the “taste of the world” table during International Education week.
“It’s basically a celebration of culture, of bringing people in from other countries and also sending people to other countries. We call it “taste of the world” so everyday they’re having food and drink from different countries,” Hollenbeck said.
Rebecca Anne Schwartz, the WSU study abroad director, explained that International Education week was started by the government. “The government wanted to encourage multiculturalism in schools, so they declared that this week in November every year would be International Education week,” she said.
“It’s time for the universities to celebrate the diversity of their student population, and to embrace multiculturalism. It’s not [always] international students though. For example, we have several students who are second generation German, or who have family who are originally from French-Polynesia,” Schwartz explained.
Seaton said she has enjoyed International Education week. She said she liked “being exposed to all the different cultures, and all the different dances and the ways that we’re different.”
Hollenbrook noted that the students from Saudia Arabia set up a table; the largest international population here at WSU is from Saudia Arabia. They interacted with the students and also promoted the hashtag #notinmyname in response to recent world events.
“We’re all here, we’re all students together. We all come from different backgrounds, so let’s celebrate this,” Schwartz said.
