Pan World Coffeehouse to highlight international cultures Saturday

By Tory Brown ’13
College Relations Intern

Randolph College’s Pan World club will host its popular Coffeehouse Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. in Houston Memorial Chapel, featuring music, dance, and fashions from around the world.

Drawing participants from Randolph and the Lynchburg community, Pan World Coffeehosue is designed to promote cultural awareness and to provide Randolph’s international students with the opportunity to share a taste of their home countries. The event is held once each semester.

“Students have many things to look forward to when attending Pan World,” said Penny Trieu’15, the co-event chair. “Randolph has such a culturally diverse student body, and Pan World is where all these different cultures come to together to celebrate each other’s cultures.”

Pan World Coffeehouse includes fashion shows displaying the dress of other cultures.

This year, the event will feature 12 performances, including the traditional and urban fashion shows. There will also be a Moroccan wedding dance, a Bollywood dance, and students singing in different languages. Following the event, international foods will be served. Pan World Coffeehouse is free and open to the public.

A big surprise awaits the end of the performances, according to Mi Dan Nguyen ’14, the publicity chair. “It’s going to be awesome,” she said. “So everyone should come, and stay until the end!”

An after party is scheduled in Smith Banquet Hall from 10 p.m.– 1 a.m.

2012 International Photo Contest Winners

The 2012 International Photo Contest results are in, and six Randolph students have been honored for taking some fantastic shots at home and abroad.

Here are the winners in each category:

PEOPLE

First Place: Justin DeSmith '13, Photo taken at Rolling Thunder protest rally in Washington, D.C.

Second Place: Tra Cao, A woman doing farm work at Bai Giua in the Red River in Hannoi, Vietnam

Third Place: Dorji Dema '13, Grandmother at an ancestral home in Bhutan

PLACES

First Place Megan Hageman ’13, taken in Nyhavn Copenhagen Denmark

Second Place: Luisa Poveda ’13, Sunset in Tagana Colombia

Third Place: Hailey Nguyen ’15, Sapa Vietnam

Be sure to congratulate the winners, and take a look at the 2011 winners, too.

Global community center will enhance intercultural experience

Thanks to a generous gift from an alumna and her husband, Randolph College students have a new place to gather and share experiences and perspectives across cultural lines.

On Wednesday the College dedicated the Fitzgerald Global Community Center, a lounge in Bell Hall that is set aside for multicultural activities and discussions. It is situated near the newly designated intercultural floor of Bell Hall, where several students have chosen to live in an environment focused on intercultural connections.

Zara Sibtain ’13, Mike Fitzgerald, Susan Klein, President John E. Klein, Marilyn Fitzgerald ’68,
Carl Girelli, and Jennifer Dugan cut a ribbon to open the Fitzgerald Global Community Center.

The center was made possible by a donation from Marilyn Hicks Fitzgerald ’68 and her husband, Mike, who have been avid supporters of the College’s global studies program for years.

“It’s exciting to join together today to celebrate their latest gift to the college,” President John E. Klein said in the dedication ceremony Thursday. “This center is both a social and an academic resource, and it blends well into Randolph’s Quality Enhancement Plan, ‘Bridges Not Walls.’”

Terry Bodine, assistant dean of students and director of residence life, said that the center contributes to the College’s goal of helping students immerse themselves in a global experience. “Students at Randolph College are strongly encouraged to study abroad,” she said. “However, not every student can study overseas. For those who cannot, Randolph College works intentionally to create opportunities for intercultural exchange right here on campus.”

Marilyn Fitzgerald ’68 visits with Jim Kwon ’14, a student from Korea, in Cheatham
Dining Hall before the dedication of the Fitzgerald Global Community Center.

Jennifer Dugan, a political science professor and head of the College’s Model United Nations program, said the center will provide a place to hold meetings to discuss international issues that come up throughout the year, including lunch hour meetings when international events and questions provoke discussions. “In the international arena, we can’t anticipate what issues, or challenges, crises, or even peace may break out. It’s very nice to know that we can have this environment open to us and be flexible in the ways we come together,” she said.

Marilyn Fitzgerald talked about how living overseas, including a study abroad experiences in college, helped her and her husband develop an appreciation for the world’s many cultures. “When we met each other later in our 20s, our common bond was the fact that we had both studied abroad,” she said.

They developed a passion for helping students to increase their global awareness. Ten years ago, the Fitzgeralds created the Sheldon and Chrystine Hicks Endowed Global Studies Fund. Named in honor of Marilyn’s late parents, the fund makes it possible for Randolph students to travel to the National Model United Nations conference each year.

“We love the new center,” said Marilyn Fitzgerald. “It just makes me want to be a student again.”