International students bond at Museum

The sound of lively voices filled the University Museum Friday night as Penn's International Classroom hosted a reception for foreign students, academics and professionals. The gathering, which has annually brought together as many as 1,000 people from more than 100 countries, was held in the Museum's Chinese Rotunda. International Classroom, a program based at the Museum, aims to acquaint local school children with multicultural and international issues. More than 30 area sponsors, including Drexel, Temple and Villanova universities, and the Consular Association of Philadelphia, helped International Classroom plan and host the event. "Students come and want to talk," said Charlotte Conroy, an International Classroom volunteer for 20 years. She said the event is beneficial because students from all backgrounds get to know each other. The reception included refreshments and a receiving line, where the students could shake hands with International Classroom staff members and consuls from several countries. To allow everyone to get to know each other, students filled out name tags, which identified them by their home country and school. The tag also allowed staff to record the number of countries and schools represented. International Classroom Director Mary Day Kent said the gathering is the only one of its kind in the country. Unlike other orientation activities sponsored by colleges to acquaint international students with each other, she noted that this reception is not limited to students from a single country or a single college. Rather, students from 35 area colleges participated in the event. Attendees came from various countries around the globe, including Ghana, Slovakia, Bosnia, Taiwan and Afghanistan. Ann Kuhlman, associate director of the University's International Program, said the 300 students from Penn formed the largest group at the reception -- although students came from as far away as the University of Scranton, located in the northeast corner of Pennsylvania. Kuhlman noted that the gathering had an additional benefit as "an activity to bring students into the city." She added that some colleges planned other activities in Philadelphia Friday so students could get to know the area. Meanwhile, Andreas Klafki, a Temple law student from Germany, said he and several of his friends from school and home intended to meet at the reception and chat. Like many of the students at the gathering, Klafki has only been in the United States a short time, arriving in Philadelphia only two months ago. Noting the diversity among those present, Museum Director Jeremy Sabloff said, "The students fill the room with energy."