International Student Adviser for the OISS Amber Cordell said she wanted to host an event international students would be very interested in.

“My interns, the programming team and I just sat down and thought about what is it that international students need to know that we can’t cover during orientation,” she said.

“What might they … not know that domestic students may already know?”

The event featured speakers talking about what to expect at the football games and also featured the MSU Pompon team to teach the students how to do some of the student section cheers in addition to the lyrics and hand movements of the fight song.

Courtney Simpson, biological science and secondary education junior and pompon team member, said it was a cool experience teaching the international students part of the MSU culture.

“I think it’s very important for them to be a part of our culture and understand what MSU is and everything goes with it,” she said.

Graduate student Qing Yang said he came because he wanted to learn more about the sports traditions.

“Now I know more, and I’m getting more and more interested in football,” he said.

Cordell said having Sparty there set the tone of excitement and school spirit that they wanted to have.

“Students seem really excited, and Sparty’s always a big hit,” she said. “So we appreciate that surprise.”