United Nations
Many countries-one university. UIndy celebrates its diversity.
By Micah McVicke
Staff Writer
Under the theme, “This is the time,” the 20th annual Celebration of Flags ceremony displayed the University of Indianapolis’s diversity on Oct. 2 in Ruth Lilly Performance Hall in Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center.
The Celebration of Flags pays tribute to the many countries and cultures represented on the UIndy campus. In 1988, the first year the ceremony was held, the university had 72 students from 29 nations. Twenty years later, the university has 304 students from 54 nations, spanning all over the globe. From Russia to Jamaica, Ethiopia to New Zealand, the university features students from a large variety of walks of life, cultures, religions, and backgrounds.
In addition to the diverse student body on campus, our university employs 46 faculty members from 28 nations.
The International Division asked students to carry the flags of all the respective nations represented in the ceremony. Flags were carried up the aisles and flags and their bearers stood on stage as Mimi Chase, international division chair, welcomed the audience. Flags went off stage as the audience viewed a photograph slide show.
As Jim Ream, theatre department chair, gave the audience the Call of Nations, the flags called were placed in the flag stand display. Radcliffe Ganda, international student representative, then told the audience his story of coming to UIndy from his home, Sierra Leone.
“I could get a scholarship if I found a university in the United States,” Ganda said.
Student Government President Elizabeth Semrau spoke next. She suggested that the audience should not wait, but instead, seize the moments.
University President Beverley Pitts concluded the ceremony, emphasizing the Methodist motto, “Open hearts, open minds, open doors.”
Collin George, physical therapy graduate student from India, carried the flag representing the United Nations. He said the ceremony is important for UIndy, but he felt the venue of previous years, the Schwitzer Student Center Atrium, suited the program better than RLPH.
Zain Irfan, a senior from Pakistan, said the ceremony is important because it shows how international the UIndy campus is.
“People all around the world know of this campus and that makes people feel at home,” Irfan said.
