The International Students Association put on its annual Valentine’s Day Ball Feb. 10 at the East Lansing Marriott Hotel where instead of looking for love, the theme was loving one another’s cultures.
“The theme is ‘Love Without Borders,’” vice president of the club Chris Symons said. “The idea is just looking at each other as people and not as nationalities ... and not worrying about who is and isn’t welcome.”
The International Students Association represents 8,000 international students, which is about 15 percent of the entire student body, Symons said.
The mission of the association is to enhance international cooperation and cultural diversity between domestic and international MSU students. The group also aims to provide the international student community with formal representation within the university and to promote and advance international student’s rights and privileges.
“We do a lot with the administration,” Symons said. “I sit down with President (Lou Anna K.) Simon and her vice presidents at least once or twice a semester.”
Symons said the organization recently worked with the administration and a group called Books Not Bombs to help get a refugee from Syria enrolled at MSU.
“Especially this year, we all decided that we wanted to have more service and advocacy-oriented goals,” Symons said.
Symons is a domestic student and said he feels there is a big divide between the domestic and international students on campus. He said he hopes the club helps change that stigma and brings students of all cultures together.
“It’s important for me (to be a part of ISA) because I get to meet people from different backgrounds and different cultures, and that matters to me because it’s good to educate yourself about the world and how people practice their lives in their hometowns and home countries,” Naif Alyami, the president of the club and an international student from Saudi Arabia, said. “I just thought that that was beautiful, to make those connections and meet these people.”
The dance provided students with free transportation, food and music. The guests were domestic and international, all coming together and appreciating a night of solidarity and fun.
“I think it’s amazing,” Palestinian international student and guest of the ball Zainah Yassin said. “Nowadays it’s really hard for a lot of people to get along. So I think it’s really, really amazing what they’re doing to have a lot of people just come together and enjoy their time.”
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