Holiday cheer

On December 15, the Alumni Relations Office and Fundraising Office together with ESN Groningen welcomed over 100 international students to the first ever International Students Holiday Dinner. As befits such a historic occasion, the dinner took place in the Academy Building. The students, representing over 44 different nationalities, formed a true representation of the international university the RUG prides itself in being.

To kick start the event, Tienke Koning, Director of the Ubbo Emmius Fonds welcomed the students. “Since some of our international students cannot go home for the holidays, this dinner is a special occasion for our university to share the holiday cheer with our students and our ‘alumni-in-waiting’,” she said.

Be part of a community

In his word of welcome, guest of honour Rector Prof. Dr. Sterken said events such as these seek to promote the internationalization policy of our university. He encouraged the students “to be part of the new community by becoming involved” and he invited those that will be graduating next year to join the Summer ceremony to be held next July.

The students were treated to a hot buffet of typical Dutch food – a variety of ‘stamppotten’ – great live music and a quiz competition by the ESN, where the winners took home some prizes.  

Another guest of honour

As the evening wrapped up, everyone got excited as the popular alumni song was given a karaoke twist. The highlight of the evening was the special appearance of Ubbo Emmius, the University’s founder and first vice-chancellor. He stole the show as students lined up to be photographed with him.