ICS Welcome Dinner 2013: (l to r) Brendan Hughes, executive director, student life, Digvir Jayas, Vice-President (research & international), Susan Gottheil, Vice-Provost (students), Chekesani Phiri, U of M alumus and accountant, Astitwa Thapa, third year environmental science student, Melanie Verhaeghe, alumna and senior producer of newsgathering, CBC Manitoba, Beibei Lu, graduate student in Kinesiology and Recreation Management, President and Vice-Chancellor David Barnard and Tony Rogge, director, International Centre for Students. // Photo: Dan Gwozdz.
Welcome! Second annual Welcome Dinner for international students
On Tuesday, October 29, 2013, the International Centre for Students (ICS) presented the second annual Welcome Dinner to officially welcome international students to the U of M and to celebrate the cultural richness of our community and province.
Students, staff, faculty, alumni and the public at large were invited to attend the event. It highlighted the importance of culture and intercultural competencies in our increasingly connected world. President and Vice-Chancellor David Barnard was also on hand to welcome international students to the U of M.
Melanie Verhaeghe speaks at the 2013 ICS Welcome Dinner.
This year’s theme, “Who are we anyway?” featured keynote speaker U of M alumna Melanie Verhaeghe, senior producer of newsgathering at CBC Manitoba. With over 20 years of experience in the journalism and broadcast industry, Verhaeghe has produced award-winning documentaries on a wide range of subjects, including sweatshops in Honduras, child soldiers in Uganda and women recovering from the war in Bosnia.
The Welcome Dinner also featured presentations by Beibei Lu, a U of M graduate student who was born and grew up in China, Astitwa Thapa, a third year environmental science student who spent most of his life outside his home country of Nepal and came to Canada in 2011, and Chekesani Phiri, an Asper School of Business alumna who was born in Zambia and is currently working as a public practice accountant for Bob Mondor CMA Corp. in Winnipeg.
The Welcome Dinner included live entertainment by DJ Nemo, and provided a great segue into the ICS’s World Opportunities Week, a series of events that showcase international opportunities to U of M students from November 5 to 8.