11-17-06

Adam Fardy

International Affairs Commission

Report

Good Evening,

            This past Thursday, the Retention and Diversity Forum went incredibly well from what I here.  My intern Alex Nickley took my place in the forum, not only did he take notes during the discussions, but he also reported on some interesting discoveries in the international community.  According to Alex, many of the students that represented the international community were of Asian descent, and felt that their Ohio University experience is good overall.  The international students that attended did feel that many of the programs that were offered by the university (OPIE, ISU) were truly beneficial.  Alex did report that many felt that the welcoming procedures for entering international students, was somewhat weak.  These students felt that this was apart of the reason why international students tend to stick with their own ethnic groups.  Alex also stated that if the welcoming procedures were to gradually get better, it may break the boundaries of forming friendships with other students on campus.  This issue seems to be of the most importance to the international community.

            I would just like to thank Alex again for his outstanding contribution to the Forum, as well as his great analysis of the information at hand.  I would also like to thank all the other commissioners for all their hard work, and I would also like to thank Patrick Heery for making such a beneficial event possible.

            Last, but not least.  Here are some upcoming international events.

-         The Fulbright Scholar’s Association will be hosting a film festival in the Friends of the Library Room on January 17^th and 19^th from 6-8 p.m. both nights.

-         A.S.U. will be hosting a film series as well from January 20^th through the 22^nd.  The films will be shown in Bentley Hall, starting at 8 p.m. each day.

Have a good rest of the week.

-End of Report-