Story by Kirsten Fedorowicz, Editor-in-Chief

Aquinas is set to offer its first Global Food Day, an event that will showcase food from many different global cultures for everyone to enjoy, on March 27 from 3 to 5 in Wege Ballroom.

This event is a collaboration between the Center for Opportunity, and Resources, Excellence (CORE) and the Multicultural club, with support and participation from the Men of Inclusion, L@sa, the Japanese Club, the German club, Campus Dining, and a handful of staff and faculty.

These different clubs, as well as Aquinas’s thriving global student population, are cooking traditional dishes from home countries and bringing them to the event for attendees to enjoy. There will be food from places like Italy, Sweden, Brazil, Japan, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia, as well as many others.  

There will also be printed recipes at the event so students can make the dish at home to impress roommates and family members.

Along with the delicious food, the Global Food event will feature origami by the Japanese club and a table where students can have their name written in another script by a global student.

Nisha Van Laar, Coordinator of Global Student Services, said this event is a great opportunity for people of different backgrounds to get to know each other. The Multicultural Club started this year in the hopes of bringing together global students with Michiganders and out-of-state students of all class levels.

“Prior to this [the multicultural club] any of the new global students only knew those students in their same academic year. There wasn’t any place or event that brought students of different years together. When looking into a big event for the campus, we decided that food was the best way to get people to participate,” Van Laar said.

The design of the event is meant to stimulate conversation and connections. Van Laar said it is also an opportunity to illustrate the true diversity of the Aquinas campus community.

“This event is a chance for global students to showcase where they are from, which is something many of them never have a chance to do. Their unique experiences bring a tremendous amount of value to the College and I think we should have events to celebrate that.”

For students born locally, Van Laar said, the event offers the unique opportunity to learn about different people and places in a direct, engaging, and tasty way!

Svetlana Djirackor, a Junior from Kenya, echoed Van Laar’s sentiments. “I think this event is important because it’s a nice way to bring all international students together and in the presence of the rest of Aquinas College. Plus, what better way to get to know each other than by eating food from different walks of life. It’s a literal taste of a new place that many might never visit.”

Van Laar noted that many other colleges have similar events annually and hopes that Aquinas can make this a yearly event as well.

To find out more information, check out the Global Student Services Instagram @aqglobalstudents.