New Mexico State University’s International Club will host the Around the World Festival Wednesday, March 8. The university’s Education Abroad, Office of International Students and Scholar Services, Office for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity and the Associated Students of NMSU will assist the club in organizing the event as well. The event will be free and open to the public.
Targeting the NMSU community, the club invites international students to sign up and represent their home country. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. along the International Mall, each student participant will display a table that represents different items from their home country. Students are encouraged to bring their countries flags and even wear any traditional attire.
During this morning session, the club will also host its own table with coffee and donuts to show American culture, and also distribute flowers in celebration of International Women’s Day.
Hamza Badrari, president of the International Club of NMSU, explained that the club represents all international students and strives to show the diversity the campus holds. Badrari included that it was important to invite and present the university’s Chicano Programs, American Indian Program, Black Programs and LGBT + Programs. They hope to represent a total of 30 countries at the festival.
“We aim to cultivate interests of cultures represented by students in our campus and to encourage friendship between international and American students,” he said.
From 5 to 7 p.m., the festival will conclude with performances of traditional dances and music held in the Corbett Center Student Union’s auditorium.
Erica Nikolaisen, Education Abroad’s program manager, described the festival as an opportunity for international Aggies to share their culture with NMSU and make connections between international and domestic students.
“These interpersonal relationships are essential because they can contribute to developing cultural understanding within the university community,” Nikolaisen said.
Vice president of the International Club, Yangmi Lacombe, said that she wants the NMSU community to realize how international students are a big part of NMSU and hopes this event enhances their thoughts on diversity and inclusion. Badrari and Lacombe added that the club is trying to propose an event each semester to portray the cultures present on campus.
“We’re trying to rebuild our legacy by trying to show what we’re capable of, and we want to make our club culture so much bigger and known,” Lacombe said.
For more information or questions about the event, contact Badrari at hbadrari@nmsu.edu.
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NMSU photo by Derek Flodmand