More Than a Metaphor

WIND brings a new kind of cultural exchange to campus

by Tony Moore

Imagine you鈥檙e a new student at Orientation and you meet a fellow first-year student who has adopted this as his go-to greeting: "I'm Chinese, I wear glasses, but I'm not good at math." It鈥檚 funny (and real), but it says a lot about preconceptions and stereotypes. And it鈥檚 one of the aspects of being an international student that a new campus organization hopes to address.

We Introduce Nations at Dickinson (WIND) was founded last fall by a group of international first-year students, and its founders point out that the name itself encapsulates the group鈥檚 mission.

鈥淲e started as the Cultural Exchange Club, but we wanted it to be more than a club,鈥� says Anastasiya Khlopina '18 (international business & management), a member of the Dickinson Christian Fellowship, volleyball team and future RA who hails from St. Petersburg, Russia. 鈥淎nd WIND is a nice metaphor: Wind blows all across the globe, bringing cultures together, mixing them together.鈥�

Yanxiu 鈥淐hristie鈥� Chen '18, from Dongguan, China, serves on the President鈥檚 Commission on Diversity and will be an Orientation assistant in the fall. She sees WIND as a great opportunity to gather international and domestic students under one big umbrella.

鈥淲e want to help people get out of their comfort zones,鈥� says Chen of the approach her friend with the glasses and less-than-stellar math skills clearly embraces. 鈥淭hen people can really talk to different people and find out about each other鈥檚 cultures.鈥�

Singapore鈥檚 Yue 鈥淢ay鈥� Wu '18 (mathematics) expands on the idea: 鈥淲e want to create a bond among international students so they feel at home when they come to Dickinson,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut we also want to create a bond between international and domestic students so we can eliminate stereotypes.鈥�

Overturning stereotypes through cultural exchange is one of WIND鈥檚 goals, and it鈥檚 a goal members hope to achieve through various events, such as Country of the Week, a cultural showcase that got off the ground in the spring in conjunction with the Japanese Aesthetic Club.

Jun Kyu Lee '18, from Gwangju-si, South Korea, anticipates larger moves marking the evolution of WIND, including alumni participation, annual multicultural performances and mentoring programs.

鈥淭here are a lot of organizations and clubs for international students to join and participate in,鈥� says Lee, who is in Dickinson鈥檚 chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, the national service fraternity, and serves as a multicultural ambassador in the admissions office. 鈥淏ut we want to link all the Dickinson community, making a large core and providing even more opportunities for students.鈥�

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Published May 11, 2015

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