Syracuse University will host an International Thanksgiving Celebration to introduce international students to the traditional American holiday.

The 33rd International Thanksgiving Celebration will be held Thursday, a week before the actual holiday, in Goldstein Auditorium in the Schine Student Center at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the event have already sold out, according to an SU news release. The event is open to all international students at SU.

“This wonderful annual event gives us the opportunity to pause, give thanks and share North American Thanksgiving traditions with people from around the world,” said Ruth Chen, professor of practice in the College of Engineering and Computer Science in the release.

The dinner will feature traditional Thanksgiving foods — such as turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. It is served family style — where food is put on tables in large serving dishes, instead of on individual dishes like a restaurant would serve.

A Native American Thanksgiving address will be given by Regina Jones, assistant director of the Native Student Program at SU. Jones is a member of the Oneida Nation’s Turtle Clan and organized the celebration of National Native American Heritage Month this November.

SU acknowledges its place on Onondaga Nation land at all major campus events and flies the Haudenosaunee flag beside the American flag on campus. Starting last year, the university also established Indigenous Peoples’ Day in place of Columbus Day.

Brian Konkol, dean of Hendricks Chapel, Chancellor Kent Syverud and Craig Slutzker of the Slutzker Center for International Services will speak at the dinner.

International students make up 19 percent of undergraduate and graduate student enrollment at Syracuse University.

Dining and student centers will have limited hours over Thanksgiving break.

Published on November 14, 2017 at 9:01 pm

Contact Kennedy: krose100@syr.edu | @KennedyRose001