East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows urged the international community of East Lansing to make their voices heard and numbers count during an appearance at the East Lansing Welcomes the World event on Friday, Sept. 20 at the East Lansing Public Library.
“This is a very special year,” Meadows told the crowd of more than 200 community members, most of international origin. "This is the year of the United States census. You are counted as a resident of the United States on April 1 ... for our census, so thank you for helping us raise the number of people who live in the city of East Lansing. Thank you again for choosing Michigan State University to come to.”
According to MSU’s Office for International Students and Scholars, more than 9,000 international students along with faculty, staff and their family members live in East Lansing and the surrounding areas.
The event Friday night was family-focused, with children playing in the halls and taking pictures.
Even Sparty, MSU's mascot, made a brief appearance.
Food was available to reflect the diverse flavor of the event. International students said the location of the event — the East Lansing Public Library — made it feel like a safe place to bring their families.
“I have a library card of the East Lansing Library, and in the summer, we came every other day,” said Nazia Iqbal, a Fulbright postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies.
Iqbal is from Pakistan, and she said her three children view the library as a recreational space.
“I try to come here (often),” Iqbal said. “My kids enjoy playing here and reading. They have a lot of books at home. They love it.”
A DJ played music and offered karaoke, which only had one taker — five year-old Derrick, whose parents are Ghanian immigrants. Derrick sang Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” but admitted later he was slightly nervous.
“It was scary because there were a lot of people,” he said. “But I really like to dance and sing.”
