Recently Lori Friedman, director of the Office of International student’s office at the University of St. Thomas, spoke to the University’s Student Government on how they can better support the international student community on campus.

To the untrained eye, it’s a mystery why student leaders would need advice on how to better support some members of their community, but after close inspection there is more to it than meets the eye.

A study conducted by Hsiao-ping Wu, et.al. in 2015 on “International Student’s Challenge and Adjustment to College” reported that international students experience academic challenges, social isolation and are expected to make critical cultural adjustments when trying to navigate the new environment.

Looking at St. Thomas and how its community interacts with its international students, one finds Hsiao-ping Wu’s study to be Yea and Amen. The history of international students at St. Thomas is relatively new. It was the intentional efforts of former school president, the Rev. Dennis Dease to recruit students from countries like Saudi Arabia, China, India and Uganda in the 2000s that led to the increase of the international student body on campus. Still, with a student body of over 10,245, the 536 international students make up a meagre portion of the population. Hence, the interaction with international students is still very limited.

There have been complaints by some international students on how they are ignored or are put on the spot in classes, mainly because they are from a different part of the world. In a hypothetical situation, for example, in a political science class a professor would ask a student from Uganda, “So, how is this done in Uganda?” putting pressure on a student who is just in class to learn like everyone else. That student is not an expert on the politics of his or her country the same way many domestic students are not experts on American politics. Instances of cultural taxation such as this are replete on the St. Thomas campus.

But hypothetical situations aren’t necessary.

Kiran Guntupalli, an international student from India, said his major problem is how domestic students make him seem stupid when he speaks, because of his accent.

Many international students on campus speak English as a second language and in some cases as an nth language. They are trying to learn to communicate, survive in a classroom where the learning medium is English. They must also deal with cultural cues they do not yet understand, they have no friends, and instead of domestic students offering support they make jest of how hard their names are to pronounce or just ignore them.

We need to learn to be people and just be nice to everyone. Don’t say, “I can’t hear you, your accent is so thick?” That could come off as insensitive or harsh. Did you ever imagine that maybe your accent is probably too funny or too fast for that international student to understand? Did you ever think that to that student everyone sounds like you? So, imagine what it would be like for that student daily, to comprehend what other Americans are saying.

I would admit that sometimes it could be difficult to understand non-native, English speakers. Instead of giving the accent an adjective, why not ask the person to describe it to you by showing you or even writing it down. Sometimes it is the approach that matters.

Try to pronounce a person’s name. Don’t say, “Can I call you this?” or “Do you have a nickname?” Instead, wait for them to say, “My name is this but you can call me that.” How would you feel if your name was “Meghan” and an international student said can I call you “Han”? Some empathy and compassion hurt no one. Instead, they make you a better person.

“Be welcoming to international students,” Lori said to the student government. “Ask, ‘Where do you call home?’ instead of ‘Where are you from?’ Studying abroad, you expect the host country to invite you in and welcome you in. We are their host country, so let’s do the same.”

Lori’s advice is indeed paramount, especially as St. Thomas intends to “actively promote global engagement in teaching, learning, research and service in an ethical and socially responsible manner… by developing global and intercultural awareness across the university; integrating global knowledge, skills and perspectives into the curriculum; …attracting international and ethnically diverse domestic students; and supporting a globally engaged faculty and staff.”

Tam Kemabonta can be reached kema4033@stthomas.edu.