On Saturday, April 13 at 8 p.m., Lakeland’s Global Student Association hosted International Night in the Bradley Theatre. International Night is an annual event hosted by the Global Student Association during the spring semester of every academic year. GSA’s goal with the event was to give local and international students time to spend with one another. 

International Night celebrates diversity in the Lakeland University student and faculty bodies. The students of GSA perform acts from all over the world. The show opened with a waving of flags from different countries represented at Lakeland. Highlights of the show were an Irish jig, a Hawaiian dance and a traditional Japanese dance. Dr. Richard Dodgson, an associate professor of history at Lakeland who is originally from the United Kingdom, performed original songs. The music video for his song “Oh, Lakeland” was debuted during his portion of the show. 

Performers put in a great deal of time practicing their acts. GSA holds practice times for individual acts that are involved. As a group, they hold mandatory practice for the ending song and entire show leading up to the performance night. The week before the event calls for practice every night to perfect these dances and acts. 

GSA President Tali Colman is in his senior year at Lakeland University. When asked about his favorite part of being in GSA, “I think my favorite part of GSA is being able to interact with the different students who are part of GSA—learning about their culture, learning about their personalities and where they came from, and just having fun.” 

“The people who are mostly involved with GSA are seniors,” Coleman said. “We are graduating, and we are unsure of who all will be involved in the future. I am hoping that events like the Food Festival and International Night just keeps going on every year and keeps the tradition alive and keeps GSA alive as well.”