International Halloween Dance

Trick-or-treating, carving jack-o'-lanterns, ghost tours, visiting haunted houses, telling scary stories and watching horror films were just some of the precursors that this year's Halloween season had arrived. A widely celebrated holiday in the United States, Halloween is also gaining popularity in many countries around the world.College students also like to rejoice in the festivities and participate in the celebration by dressing up in a mixture of original costumes and attending one of many Halloween parties. One such party was organized on campus by the Beyond Borders club the night before Halloween.

One of the many student organizations on campus, Beyond Borders is specifically aimed at challenging students to go beyond their cultural and personal borders by learning, sharing and communicating with people from different cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Its members are students from across the world who currently study at St. Norbert College, and many Americans who are interested in learning firsthand about foreign cultures and traditions while sharing their own.

The Halloween dance sponsored by Beyond Borders has been an annual tradition at St. Norbert College since 2006, and as Beyond Borders President Troy Wiesner '11 said, "The Halloween dance was created to give international students an experience of American Halloween since they don't have the means to celebrate it in their home countries as we Americans do. It is also open to everyone of any culture, to have fun and dance all night long."

More than 140 people attended the party, including some high school students from Notre Dame Academy in Green Bay as well.

One of the participants and an international student from Kazakhstan, Jamilya Sauranbayeva '12, said, "I really loved the party. Not only did we listen to American music, but we also had a chance to listen to a couple of songs from around the world, and it seemed that all the party guests really enjoyed hearing exotic rhythms."

Many interesting characters could be seen at the Beyond Borders Halloween Dance. Michael Jackson made his return and dazzled many with his dancing skills. Cowboys, devils and many Disney characters were also there, creating a wide array of goofy party participants. The Halloween King and Queen were selected, and the awards for best, scariest and funniest costumes were given out.

In addition to the Halloween dance, Wiesner states that Beyond Borders is also working hard on planning its next big event, International Education Week, which takes place Nov. 16--20. Beyond Borders is working in cooperation with the ALIVE Team, Women's Center, Peace and Justice Center, Study Abroad, and many others to organize a range of global events such as "Around the World in 80 Minutes" global trivia, "So You Think You Can Internationally Dance," a dance night with international music, International Cooking Night, discussion panels and many other interesting and engaging activities.

Wiesner invites the entire college community to come to one of the Beyond Borders meetings, which are held on Mondays at 8 p.m. in the presentation room of the Mulva Library. Not only do the students get a chance to participate and work on planning many upcoming events, they also get to learn about various countries from around the world through presentations given by international students at St. Norbert College.