Dear Members and Advisors,
I would like to extend my personal gratitude for your service to IUP’s International Student Club (ISC). For those of you leaving the club will surely miss your unique set of skills and hopes to fulfill your position with someone of similar stature and dedication.
You accepted positions or regular membership at a time when the International Student Club was in its infant stage of development. For several years the club had been inactive and lacked the sophistication or structure of a truly inclusive and broad-based student organization capable and willing to represent more than 700 international students and thousands of interested native students.
Since then we have come a long way. The club has grown from essentially two members to 21 Executive Board members, and 70 regular members, and many more indirect members. The first few weeks of fall marked the launching of ISC’s website, (www.iupisc.org) aimed at providing our members, IUP students and faculty, and Indiana community members with information regarding social events, Office of International Affairs’ workshops and important United States Customs and Immigration Services’ (UCIS) information; and updated news items, meeting minutes, photos of various events, and information related to trips. ISC’s webmaster deserves much credit for our website.
Second, we organized two major social events: Eid Dinner Party attracted close to eighty students and community members who enjoyed rich Indian and Pakistani cuisine, Middle Eastern music, a presentation on Ramadan and Islam, and poetry from Lebanon. Halloween Party attracted thirty students and was a mix of lavish costumes and decorations. While everyone danced and ran around playing a game from India, (courtesy of the twins – they know who they are!), they also enjoyed Middle Eastern cuisine. These events were resounding confirmations of ISC members' enthusiasm and hard work.
ISC began its journey with an ambitious four-point agenda: providing an enhanced student social life, offering academic support, bridging the gap between international students and American students, and bringing various international students together in spirit and action. The ISC-ALI committee worked hard to bring American Language Institute students to the mainstream of IUP students; Inter-Club Cooperation Committee worked with numerous international student associations and passed on information to the Marketing Committee to get the word out; Mentor-Mentee Committee worked towards finalizing the structure of the MM Program with the help of the Conversation Club and will go into action in spring; Social Events Committee worked diligently in arranging various events; Publications Committee worked with the editor of One World to start the process of changing the previously four-page newsletter into "The Penn" for the international students; and finally, Rules Committee keenly observed the administrative workings of the new club, and is now working on the club’s constitution and by-laws.
The Vice President, Treasurer, Disputes Assistant, and Marketing Consultant, all worked towards the goals of the club with varying degrees of involvement. I would like to personally thank everyone for their involvement. For those who are graduating or leaving, good luck in your future endeavors. You are always welcome to visit our website and provide your valuable input.
However, there were shortfalls and we as a team hope to learn from our mistakes and pledge to work even harder next time. Our emerging organization has taken with pride and diligence, the mammoth task of social and academic integration of the entire international student body.
Haider Mullick
President
the end of fall semester.pdf