International Student Club to host dinner at Connection

Members of the International Student Club will host a dinner this week at The Connection that will feature salmon, something not often found on menus at Campus Dining locations.

The event, scheduled for Thursday, December 8, from 5-8 p.m., started as a grassroots effort by club members who wanted to see more global items on menus.

“Most international students don’t eat pork, for example,” said Mohamed Azuz, club member and a computer and information systems major. “We asked for a meeting with Campus Dining to see if there was something they could do.”

Campus Dining embraced the idea, said chef Aaron Johnson. “They asked for more foods from their ethnic backgrounds,” Johnson said. “I’m always up for different flavors.”

There are 317 international students at Grand Valley. The majority live near The Connection in Laker Village apartments or Murray Living Center.

Johnson said the choice of salmon came from the students. “It’s interesting because salmon is a northern hemisphere fish, but they were just excited to have fish,” Johnson said. Beginning in the winter semester, Campus Dining and the International Student Club will host an ethnic night monthly at The Connection.

Students, faculty and staff members are invited to Thursday’s event. Cost for people without a dining plan is $10.99, a meal-plus four for those with dining plans. The menu includes salmon with a tomato pesto, wild rice pilaf and broccoli rabe.

Kate Stoetzner, director of international students and scholar services for the Padnos International Center, said she was “proud of the club’s collaborative effort.”