ISU prepares for the Homecoming parade with a new banner that will match the theme “Same Bricks, Different Stories.”
This year’s Homecoming theme is “Same Bricks, Different Stories,” and the International Student Union is taking it to heart.
For the new parade route, ISU has a new banner to represent the organization.
The banner will have Athens bricks, each of which will have the name of a different organization in place of the “Athens block.” Then, the world map will be drawn in with chalk, according to Alena Klimas, programming director of ISU.
The new global design matches ISU’s sentiment that everyone is encouraged to join the organization in the parade.
Hashim Pashtun, the president of ISU and a graduate student studying civil engineering, said in an ISU meeting on Sept. 28 that every organization represented on the banner makes up the world, which is why they will chalk in a picture of the world map.
“All of you are invited,” Pashtun said. “You may be international or domestic, doesn’t matter. If you want to join the parade, you are most welcome. We are giving people flags to hold. One flag for each country.”
International and domestic students alike will march in the Homecoming Parade, wearing cultural attire or any meaningful article of clothing.
“The Homecoming Parade is one of our biggest, most inclusive events of both domestic and internationals,” Klimas, a junior studying political science and global studies, said. “Half of the people (are) directly involved with ISU, and the others are just students who want to hang out with the international community and have fun on Homecoming.”
ISU will also continue its tradition of performing a chant while walking in the parade. In past years, they have chanted “many nations, one family.” This Homecoming, they want to continue this chant but combine it with the Ohio University fight song.
“For some international students, this could be their only Homecoming,” Klimas said. “So we try to make it a really big, fun event for international students.”
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Triwik Kurniasari, another ISU programming director, said she did not know what Homecoming was before coming to United States. It's nice to introduce international students to what Homecoming is and its importance, she said.
“It also shows local people and other international communities about our existence,” Kurniasari, a graduate studying communication and global studies, said. “International Student Union is an umbrella organization for many organizations — not only for international students but for local students. … We’re from different nations, different cultures, but it doesn’t really matter because we are (one big) family.”
The ISU will be meeting before the Homecoming Parade at Walter International Education Center, where they will pass out flags and provide coffee and donuts.
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