International Education Week to unite students

Daniel Jones, Contributing Writer

Eastern’s Study Abroad Program is teaming up with the Office of International Students and Scholars to celebrate International Education Week.   

Throughout the week there will be different events held around campus to give Eastern students a feel of the various cultures that are represented.

International Education Week is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education to promote a program that prepares Americans for an all-around global environment.

To recognize the international students, 52 flags will be on display in the Bridge Lounge in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Each of these flags will represent the ethnicity of an international student currently at Eastern.

The dining halls on campus will each have a themed dinner to represent a culture such as serving Mexican, Asian or Greek food.

Myrtle Castro, a grad assistant for the Office of Study Abroad, said she is very excited for the program. 

As an event that happens every year, Castro said she feels this event serves a great purpose here on campus: to bring students together.

“Any student at EIU should take advantage of these events,” Castro said.

As a diversity major, Castro believes that International Education Week will help Eastern students gain a global perspective.

Other than learning more about cultures, Castro said she believes that it will give students something positive to do besides focusing on schoolwork.

The most important factor of this program, Castro said, is that it will bring the students together.

Global Cultural Night, which happened on Friday, kicked off International Education Week, but on Monday there is a lecture on International Student Enrollment and the Impact to the U.S. Economy at 1 p.m. in the Buzzard Hall Auditorium room 1501.  

Daniel Jones can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].