GEO and ISO Partner to Bring World to Gordon

By Vicki Franks ’20 & Raymond Johnson ’21
Arts & Life Editor

The International Student Organization and Global Education Office and hosted a Festival of Nations last Tuesday. More than 20 countries from all across the globe were represented.

GEO and ISO put hours into organizing this event celebrating the countries represented by Gordon’s student body. From chalk arrows all over campus to a humorous Student News email on February 16, there was no shortage of advertising for this event.

Booths displaying posters and artifacts from each respective country  lined either side of the Chairman’s room. Students received a passport upon arrival and could collect stickers from each country they “traveled to.”

To get chapel credit, students had to stay for a minimum of 40 minutes at the event, get their passport “stamped” by at least eight countries, and write a fun fact about each of the

“Everyone seemed really passionate about the countries they were representing even if they weren’t from there- like the study abroad people at the Italy table. It made Gordon seem way more globally active and involved than I usually think of it,” said Sarah Welch (18’), who  attended the festival.

Those running each country’s table were equally, if not more passionate. Sinead Miller (‘19), who studied abroad in Scotland ran the country’s booth. “Scotland is a beautiful country with a lot of history that you can see just walking down the street. There are so many great people who have lived and are living there, and a part of me will always remember it as home,” Miller said.

Running the Colombia booth was, Sebastian Toro (‘19), the son of two Colombian immigrants. “Colombia is a beautiful country, with beautiful people and beautiful culture,” Toro said as he told students about his family’s place of origin.

Gordon’s student body is a melting pot of nationalities with 52 different countries represented by the 1,591 undergraduates enrolled. The Festival of Nations gave students the opportunity to celebrate our increasingly globalized population at Gordon.