The International Student Association will host International Week (I-Week) 2020 at Texas A&M on March 23-27. This will be ISA’s 45th year of hosting I-Week, and our 50th anniversary of the organization as a whole. We invite you to be part of our celebration of both of these milestones through either collaborating with us for I-Week or attending the events. For those of you who are unfamiliar, I-Week is a week-long festival, in which ISA hosts an event each day to bring cultural awareness to participants, and to serve as a platform for organizations and individuals to showcase and honor their home cultures.
For 2020, ISA has a special theme — “Celebrate!” All event participants are encouraged to incorporate their cultural celebratory customs in their performances, presentations, and exhibits. For those only interested in attending the programs, please see the above flyer for dates, times, and locations of all 6 events. All events are free except for I-Dinner and I-Henna, which have fees that are $10 or less.
For groups and individuals who want to do more than just attend, ISA will be hosting an informational that will provide in-depth information on how to be part of the programs — Wednesday (Feb. 12) 8:15 – 9:15 pm in the MSC Student Programs Office, Gonzales Room. There are many opportunities to get involved, and whether you want to actively take part in one of the events or help volunteer to make sure things run smoothly ISA would be delighted to have you as part of the team.
We hope you can attend this year’s I-Week events. ISA looks forward to celebrating this year’s historic anniversaries with all of Aggieland!
Early Days of I-Week
The first reference to International Week can be found in the March 28th, 1975 edition of the Battalion. The week consisted of two dances, a banquet, exhibit booths, and a talent show; all of which being similar to events we still hold in our current I-Week today. The exhibitions displayed arts and crafts of different cultures at the MSC, just as I-Exhibit continues to do (and will be doing on March 23rd). The booths featured students wearing international dress and presenting slides, the following no doubt having led to the creation of modern I-Week’s I-Story (being held on March 24th). As of the 1975 I-Week, 72 countries were represented at Texas A&M University. As of the most recent census, our university is now home to students from over 130 different countries. As our campus’ international student population grew, as did I-Week- boasting many different events throughout the 45 years of I-Week being held.
I-Week continues to be the defining set of events of ISA, and we work each year to try and make the week of events even better than the one preceding it. I-Week takes a whole team of international and domestic Aggies to make it a success, so if you’re interested in being apart of the 45 year history of this week of cultural celebration make sure to keep reading!