Tri-State University’s 40th annual International Night and Cultural Celebration drew a record crowd to its new location in the University Center on Saturday, April 5, said Deborah McHenry, director of Student Success and Retention. McHenry is faculty adviser for the university’s Multicultural Student Organization (MSO) and International Student Association (ISA), who co-sponsored the event.

“It was amazing,” McHenry said. “We had close to 500 people, and it could have been over that.” That led to a standing-room-only situation in the University Center’s Fabiani Theater, where the international students presented entertainment including a flag parade,  musical performances, a mariachi band, dancing, and a variety of other performances.

High school international students from the Youth for Understanding exchange program conducted the colorful flag parade before three students introduced themselves in Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic to begin the performances. “They were a lot of fun,” McHenry said. She called the performances right on key and the audience very attentive.

Food from the countries of Syria, Chad, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, Japan, China, Germany, Burma, Vietnam and the  United States of America was served in Whitney Commons by international students, to the accompaniment of a mariachi band. Displays from cultures from around the world filled the University Center mall area.

McHenry praised the generosity of the food donors. “Over 40 people, including many professors, donated food and very few took reimbursement for it,” she said. “Kudos go to the students who served food and probably didn’t get a chance to eat.”

Groups from SonLight Community Church in Angola and the Steuben County Literacy Coalition attended, and various community members dressed in international costumes to add to the spirit of the evening.