Building an International Community
Gonzaga University’s Center for Global Engagement (CGE) is hosting a variety of events to celebrate International Education Week (IEW) 2022, held Nov. 14 - 18. IEW is a joint initiative between the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education, held annually during the week before Thanksgiving.
“IEW is a great opportunity to learn from our international students and scholars on campus and showcase their successes. It’s one of the ways to live out GU’s mission of Global Engagement right here on our campus,” said Ashley Davis, director of International Student Support Services (ISSS) in the Center for Global Engagement.
This fall, GU has 308 international students studying on campus representing 55 countries, with 130 of those students being new to campus. According to Philip Wilkerson, assistant director for ISSS, GU is expected to exceed 500 international students within the next two years.
“We really enjoy having these international students here and the fact that they can come and share their culture and backgrounds with us,” Wilkerson said.
Six events will be held throughout the week, hosted by students and faculty from Vietnam, India, Japan, the Philippines, China and Taiwan, to celebrate and educate the campus community about the diverse international cultures represented here.
“International students don’t get a lot of opportunities to say ‘here we are, this is our background, this is our cuisine,’” Wilkerson said. “This is a chance for them to really showcase themselves and let everybody on campus know that we have students from all over the world. This is a chance for them to express themselves in a way they may not inside the classroom.”
The International Student Union is hosting a Thanksgiving Food Fest for international students, faculty and staff. Held Nov. 18, 5-7 p.m. in the Globe Room at Cataldo, the festival also includes performances from Gonzaga cultural clubs. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the CGE front desk.