First-year seminar publishes an anthology page 6 & 7 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013
Indiana’s Oldest College Newspaper
VOL. 162, ISSUE 4
Global Partners program fosters cultural exchange Former basketball
player tackles football in final semester By KARA JACKSON sports@thedepauw.com
International and domestic students gather in the Union Building Ballroom for the first meeting of the Global Partners program Thursday evening. The program provides domestic mentors for firstyear international students. ERIC ST BERNARD/THE DEPAUW By NICOLE DECRISCIO news@thedepauw.com
Global Partners, a program with the purpose of culturally uniting campus, held its kickoff event Monday evening. The program partners one first-year international student with an upperclassmen domestic student. There are about 90 students in the program that will meet twice a month. One meeting is meant to be a social outing. For the first month, each partner set received a Starbucks gift card loaded with enough to buy each person a drink. The other meeting is at an intellectual event, ideally a speaker related to diversity. These meetings are meant for more than breaking down language barriers, though, Loutfi Jirari, director of international student services said. “We don’t want to make it domestic students helping international students with language.” Instead, Jirari hopes the programming will push both sides to become more unified. One of the major changes in programming is
the consolidation of the International Office and the Multicultural Life Office into one office for both, the Intercultural life office. “I think that a lot of times having a good connection starts with a one on one connection,” Jirari said. “To address the disconnect, we need different programs and strategies.” Jirari believes that the new programming will do just that by allowing international students to learn about the culture in the United States and vice versa. The new programming will also feature “Real Talk,” which will feature different student organizations and their experiences with diversity. The event on Monday featured two students who spoke on their experiences connecting with international students. The first was senior Kristin Otto, who has spent the last two summers working for a teaching assistant for an English immersion program. Otto also has several friends on campus that are international students. “All my friends bring a different perspective,” Otto said. She believes that the different perspectives added to her experience at DePauw.
The second student to speak was junior Rudra Vishweshwar, who is an international student from India. “Everything was different,” he said of when he first came to the United States. He specifically noted the difference in measurements and sports, specifically football, which he knew as what Americans call soccer. First-year Midori Kawaue, an international student from Japan, noted that it is helpful to have another mentor figure. “My partner is a senior and she’s majoring in what I’m interested in, which is environmental science,” Kawaue said. “It’s really nice to have a senior doing what you want to do.” Vishweshwar related with first-year students who may feel homesick and assured them that it is normal for students to miss home. “The only way you’re not going to miss home is when you make DePauw your home,” Vishweshwar said. Vishweshwar said he likes the new Global Partners program and thinks it is helpful. “I wish we had that when I was a [first-year].”
Senior Barry Flynn, former First Team All-North Coast Athletic Conference basketball player is back at DePauw for his last semester. But this time Flynn has hung up the basketball jersey and bought a new pair of football cleats. Flynn decided to join football during spring semester last year and will be the starting wide receiver under Coach Bill Lynch’s direction this fall. “It’s taken me a second to brush all the dust off but I feel like the team and I are getting better every day,” Flynn said. Flynn led the men’s basketball team in scoring and rebounds last season. Coming back for only fall semester meant that Flynn would be unable to play basketball in his last season of college athletic eligibility. “[Flynn] is a guy that can’t sit still for long,” said Bill Fenlon, the men’s basketball coach. “Since he has another semester here he’s decided to make this effort to play football, and I know Coach Lynch is pretty happy that he has.” The men’s basketball team will have to find a way to fill the void, but Fenlon is certain that Flynn would be successful in stepping up into his new position on the football team. Flynn started his college career playing football at Ball State University four years ago. Standing 6 feet 5 inches and 225 pounds Flynn will be the biggest wide receiver on the roster. “[Flynn] has Division I athletic ability without question,” said Fenlon. “As far as his physical tools translating onto the football field? I can tell you that I would hate to be a 5-foot-11-inch, 170 pound defensive back with that guy barreling toward me.” Flynn was recruited as a tight end to Ball State University in 2009 after a successful high school
Flynn | continued on page 11