The University of Illinois Springfield recognized its international students Wednesday with a special flag
raising ceremony.
Twenty-two new flags from different countries were added to the
university's display. Each
flag represents a current or past student and the country they’re from.
The ceremony recognizes the international student base, while
also teaching local students about their classmates.
"We had somebody here from Santa Lucia a few years ago
but we don't have anybody now, but we had a bunch of students saying, 'Oh, I'll
do that one, I'll do that one! Oh, where's this?' So they're learning a little
bit about geography and things like that while they're representing, or waving
the flag and celebrating the flag for a place they may have just heard about
for the first time," said Sarah Jome, director of International Student Services.
UIS currently has more than 200 international students on
campus. The 22 flags raised today account for countries represented within the
last three school years. In total, 88 different flags now fly in the lobby of
the Sangamon Auditorium.
The story was reported by WICS-TV 20 on February 12, 2014.
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