Goshen College’s International Student Club (ISC) will present its annual Coffeehouse show this Saturday in Sauder Concert Hall. 

Before the concert, a potluck meal will take place in the College Mennonite Church Fellowship Hall. 

A portion of the proceeds from the dinner and show will be used to support Mennonite Central Committee’s earthquake relief efforts in Syria and Turkey.

Goshen’s international student population includes 73 people from 32 different countries. 

One student, Silas Immanuel, an accounting and film studies double major from India, is part of the ISC leadership team of five who plan the event every year.  

“Coffeehouse is [ISC’S] biggest event of the year, so behind the scenes we’re always talking about it,” Immanuel said. 

“As soon as winter break wraps up, the gears shift and we’re on top of it to try to make sure we have acts and [to see] how many people we are expecting.” 

According to Immanuel, there will be ten acts, consisting of international and domestic student groups.

“There will be some dances like the K-pop dance and we will have a lot of singers and musicians like the Queen Singers,” he said. “We have poetry that will be read [and] a Kahoot game like last year.”

Immanuel will be performing a song with junior Julia Jun. For Jun, the Coffeehouse has become a tradition.

This will be her second year performing a contemporary Christian song, which she did last year with a friend who has now graduated. 

For this Coffeehouse, Jun will be singing in Korean, and Immanuel in Hindi. 

“[The Coffeehouse] is a platform to express the things that are valuable to [international students]: in this case, our culture and our language,” Jun said.

While the ISC leadership is heavily involved in the planning of this event, Dan Koop-Liechty is also involved. 

As director of alumni engagement and the international student advisor, Koop-Liechty said he has  helped  students work on the annual Coffeehouse since 2017.

“​​It’s an important event for our international students, other students with connections to other countries and our community,” he said. “It allows these students a chance to show some of their cultural traditions.” 

Koop Liechty states the Coffeehouse has been a tradition for the ISC for “at least two decades.”

“Coffeehouse is really special because it’s the one time of the year that for one night, you are doing things from so many different countries,” Immanuel said. “It’s a unique opportunity that you may not get to have on every campus.” 

He encourages all students, faculty and community members to buy tickets, especially for the potluck dinner before they are sold out.

Tickets can be purchased online at goshen.edu/tickets or by calling or emailing the box office.