By AnnaBelle Boone / The Jambar
With an international community growing on campus, the International Programs Office has multiple events each semester for international and domestic students to socialize.
At International Coffee Hour, students can enjoy drinks and food from their home countries while they are far away.
The first coffee hour of fall semester was held Sept. 6. The event was hosted by the IPO in the Lariccia Cultural Collaboratory. President Bill Johnson also stopped by the event.
The second coffee hour was hosted at the Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center by Campus Rec.
Nick DuBos, an international student scholar and advisor for IPO, said he worked the event his first year and started with IPO in March 2022.
“From the moment I came here,” DuBos said. “I’ve been involved with it.”
Joe D’Amato, assistant director of the IPO, said he has been involved with the coffee hour since he started at the English Learning Institute in 2014.
“Since I’ve started here, it’s been a real successful event,” D’Amato said.
Coffee hour is sponsored by different organizations on campus such as Campus Rec, Friends Around The World and the International Student Organization.
“It’s always just been a really great opportunity … for community members and both domestic and international students to come together, kind of like a nice end of the week social event,” DuBos said.
The event also showcases the different cultures of students on campus, from sharing their food and drink to presenting songs or dances from their home countries.
“I think we really want to make it … like a cultural education opportunity,” D’Amato said. “Give students the opportunity to share about their culture because we feel like it can be a social event and educational.”
Nikechi Onunwor, a finance and political science major and the president of the African and Caribbean Students Union, has hosted the event several times.
“I look forward to attending coffee hour sessions because I know I will see a familiar face,” Onunwor said. “Community members also attend coffee hour now and then, which helps us know more about Youngstown and feel a greater connection to this great city.”
One of Onunwor’s favorite memories about the event was playing Kahoot!
“I don’t remember the questions,” Onunwor said. “But I remember my team and I [was] laughing as we failed most of them. It was a splendid time!”
The mission of coffee hour is to embrace student connections.
“It’s more than coffee,” said Onunwor. “There are fun activities, amazing people to talk to, lovely music, snacks from other countries, performances and more.”
The next International Coffee Hour will be held Nov. 5, celebrating Días de los Muertos, also known as the Day of the Dead. The final coffee hour of the semester will be held Dec. 6.