MBA International Fest Celebrates Diverse Cultures

On December 2, the Georgetown McDonough MBA program held its annual International Festival, a celebration of the international and cultural diversity within the MBA community. The event, which boasts attendance of more than 300 Full-time and Evening MBA students and family members each year, provides an opportunity for students to familiarize themselves with the cultures of their classmates.

International Fest began with a buffet of food specialties from around the globe, all prepared by students, and culminated in cultural performances and dances in Lohrfink Auditorium. This year, dishes were featured from Japan, Colombia, India, and South Korea, among other nations. Several students wore traditional dress or other representations of their home countries, such as soccer jerseys, and many brought their friends and families as well.

Some of the performances included an Indian classical dance, a Bollywood dance, and an Irish céili dance. Brendan Thompson (MBA’18) taught the Irish céili dance the Siege of Ennis to 20 audience volunteers.

“International Fest is a special event because it gives my classmates and me a platform to share our identities in a new way,” she said. “I chose to teach the dance to give my classmates an opportunity to experience it themselves. It was amazing to see classmates from Georgia, Venezuela, Jordan, and Texas hopping and stepping across the stage together in near perfect unison.”

Elizabeth Powell (MBA’20) participated in the group Bollywood dance organized by Swapna Singhal (MBA’18). “I have a deep love for the language, music, food, and people of India, and have always wanted to take part in a group dance number,” Powell said.

Frances Ricketts (MBA’19), who is originally from Peru, most enjoyed tasting a variety of national and regional recipes. “I love getting to know where a lot of our classmates are from,” Ricketts said. “Trying their local dishes was really great.”