Last Saturday the International Student Club (ISC) presented their annual International Coffeehouse dinner and show. Students catered a meal in the Church-Chapel, which was followed by a show in Sauder Concert Hall that featured performances by students from more than 30 different countries.
About 680 people were in the audience in Sauder, including the 145 ISC participants, which included 42 performers plus the 40 members of the Women’s World Choir, 13 cleaners, 33 cooks, 11 ushers and publicity workers, and a couple of MCs. Around 400 people attended the dinner in the Church-Chapel.Skip Barnett, associate professor of English and international student advisor, feels passionately about the annual Coffeehouse. “This ‘coffeehouse’ has been going on in one form or another for a long time,” said Barnett. “It started out as a very modest Hour After type event in NC 19 at which GC’s international students mainly entertained themselves, but it has evolved and expanded over the years.”
The current goals of the coffeehouse, said Barnett, are “to give international students a chance to proudly show others something about their home cultures; to build bridges of friendship and understanding between U.S. and international students as many U.S. students help with the cooking, cleaning and performing; to educate the local community about GC and our students; and to have fun [while we] raise money for some worthwhile charity selected by the students.”
According to Barnett the ISC hopes to give $500 of the money raised through the event to the Faith Victory Association of Rwanda, which helps genocide orphans and others in need.
Chau Bui performs a Vietnamese dance using fans.
Tiantian Chen plays a traditional Chinese instrument.
Sunday Mahaja, Maddie Ruth, Adama Millogo and Melanie Drinkwater perform African drumming.
On Sunday, senior art students Jess Sprunger, Liz Reese and Sunday Mahaja gave a reception celebrating their senior art show. The exhibit, which will run in the Hershberger Art Gallery until March 23, represents the culmination of their studio art studies at GC. Sprunger is exhibiting her metalwork, Reese is exhibiting her portrait drawings and Mahaja is exhibiting his sculptures and paintings.
Kate Yoder, a junior, stands in front of portraits by Liz Reese.
Sunday Mahaja poses with his piece entitled “Oya.”
Reception attendees gather around Sunday Mahaja’s sculpture entitled “Housa Man.”
