Buoyed by high membership and a sizable population of international students on campus, Dickinson’s new club for international students, We Introduce Nations at Dickinson (WIND), has spent the first full semester since its founding last spring organizing events that foster cultural exchange between American and international populations on campus.

WIND is the only student-run organization for international students, and a major goal of the group is to create “one Dickinson community,” said Nastia Khlopina ’18, an international student from St. Petersburg, Russia and a member of WIND. WIND wants Dickinsonians to learn more about different cultures and about “who the international students are,” said Khlopina.

Jun Kyu Lee ’18 said that he wants American students to know that while international students represent their home country, they are still individuals with distinct personalities and interests. According to Lee, WIND members want to “break down stereotypes” about foreign cultures.

“There is more to [my home country] Korea than kimchi,” Lee said.

Founded in February 2015, WIND is a new club to Dickinson’s campus. Chrissy Chen ’18 said that WIND started out as a club for Asian students, but evolved into including all international students. Chen said that over 100 students, international and American, signed up for the club at the fall activities fair. Lee said that he “didn’t expect it to be this big,” but he is happy with the interest in WIND.

Khlopina emphasized that the club is now not only for international students and American students are more than welcome to join.  She said that they are looking to add “an American to the executive board.”

WIND’s past events included a s’mores night at the beginning of the semester and WIND dinners, where members would meet in a HUB side room and eat dinner together, according to Khlopina.

WIND is currently in the midst of celebrating International Education Week with events for international and American students. Khlopina says that International Education Week is celebrated across the world, not just in the United States, and wanted to bring the event to Dickinson after learning about it as an exchange student in Alabama. According to Khlopina, WIND has partnered with other clubs and organizations to host events.

Lee said that the club originally wanted to have an “international bazar” featuring food, costumes and music of countries from around the world, but that there was not enough time to put together such a large event. He also said that WIND’s plans to sponsor an “international student concert and talent show” were pushed back to next semester due to time constraints. 

Each day of International Education Week has featured a different event highlighting international students and their home countries, Khlopina said. On Monday, Nov. 16, there was an international dessert reception in HUB side room 204 and 205, featuring desserts from over 10 countries.

On Tuesday, Nov. 17 and Wednesday, Nov. 18, WIND hosted a picture showcase entitled, “Window into the World.” International students supplied pictures of their home countries, and participants asked which picture belongs to which country. Khlopina said that the winner of the game gets a prize.

On Thursday, Nov. 19 there will be a cultural celebration ceremony with flags decorating the HUB, showing the countries represented by Dickinson’s international students, as well as countries affected by the terrorist attacks on Friday, Nov. 13. Khlopina also said that WIND is working with the art department to create a wall display for the cafeteria, showing the flags of international students’ home countries.

The final day of International Education Week will feature a movie night in the Global Community House, said Chen. Chen, Khlopina and Lee said that they do not know which movie they will be showing yet, but they are thinking about showing an American comedy, perhaps the “Hangover” or “Mean Girls,”

Students interested in joining WIND can contact May Wu, president of WIND. at [email protected].