Students from Lee University joined with students from Tennessee Wesleyan University (TWU) this spring for the third annual International Day celebration in Athens, Tennessee.
Dr. Augustin Bocco, TWU’s director of Multicultural Affairs and Lee alum, headed up the event and invited Lee professor Dr. James Wilkins to participate.
Bocco, a native of Togo, Africa, and former French major at Lee University, designed the International Day events at TWU three years ago along with his colleagues.
According to Bocco, TWU has 36 different nationalities represented among the population of international students.
“We can no longer ignore the fact that we are a part of a global community,” said Bocco. “The International Day events are a way to celebrate each and every culture in that community.”
Nineteen countries were represented at the celebration, including Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Czech Republic, Japan, Thailand, England, Russia, Spain, Germany, Ukraine, Indonesia, France, Lithuania, Morroco, Brazil, India, New Zealand, and Japan.
The week-long festivities included two main events: international entertainment and lunch on Tuesday, March 29, and poster sessions representing various nations and languages of the world on Wednesday, March 30.
Lee students in the French Intermediate fast-track course prepared a poster session on Morocco and the francophone countries of North Africa’s Maghreb region. In addition to the poster presentation, they prepared Moroccan cookies that paired with hot mint tea, a traditional Moroccan drink. TWU students presented posters on France, Lithuania, Brazil, Japan, and India. A presenter at the Japanese session wrote students’ names in kanji script.
“The event went very well,” said Bocco. “We love to see both students and the community come together and celebrate different cultures and learn from one another.”
This was the first year that Lee participated in TWU’s International Day, and Bocco and Wilkins hope to extend the events to Lee’s campus in the future.
“When we celebrate diversity in unity, we celebrate God… Each language, culture, race and ethnicity equally points us toward Him,” said Wilkins. “Celebrating with fellow students and faculty at TWU has been a highlight of our academic experience this semester. I look forward to next year.”