On November 16, approximately 100 people gathered in the Campo library under the direction of college counselor Joan Batcheller and the Global Student Union for a community-building event. As a fairly new club formed by alumni Fayrouz Mishak, who also attended the event, the Global Student Union’s success with the dinner was a huge step in moving forward with its goals of promoting its objective and reaching out to international families from all backgrounds.
GSU president and senior Liam Ong enthusiastically called the event a success, stating, “I’m really happy about our turnout and that the club is growing so we can help more students.” With his speech near the end of the dinner addressing the assembled families, Ong not only mentioned his satisfaction with the event’s achievement, but also encouraged his audience to speak with each other and foster new connections.
His efforts were boosted by both Ms. Batcheller and his leadership team, consisting of senior Andrew Dong, junior Yun-Yun Wong, and sophomore Carmen Chen. “We prepared the [Global Student Union] website, and Ms. Batcheller sent out the email to families who would have wanted to be involved. We also organized bringing the food and promoted it as much as we could,” Chen said when asked about the behind-the-scenes of the preparation. Chen and Wong additionally helped with the distribution of name tags and greeting arriving students and parents at the door, providing friendly faces for those unfamiliar to Campo.
“Our whole culture is that we try to create a sense of belonging and a place where first-generation families feel welcome,” Ms. Batcheller noted as she reflected on the GSU dinner. “It’s important, considering that 40% of Campolindo has a parent born in a different country.” The Global Student Union’s efforts to highlight that culture of inclusivity were also augmented by the interpretations of registrar Ms. Rachel Yang, who translated much of Ms. Batcheller’s talk in Mandarin for many of the families in attendance.
“It was crazy, hosting [around] 98 people for dinner,” Ms. Batcheller recalled. “But the goal was to grow the club, so I made time for people to introduce themselves, and families had an opportunity to meet each other. It was a great success. Families came away feeling a sense of ‘belonging and inclusion.’”
