Global Cuisine promotes campus diversity, engages students in dining program

First-year Lehigh University student Ovie Ojeni was craving authentic tastes of home when he requested a popular Nigerian dish be made. The dining hall chefs approved and Lehigh’s Global Cuisine program was set in motion.

Global Cuisine, sponsored through Lehigh Dining Services by Sodexo, is a student-focused program introducing cultural theme nights in both Lower Cort and Rathbone dining halls. This event serves popular dishes from a specific country, plays local music from the culture and displays the national flag, in addition to a small biography of the student hosting the event.

As reported in The Brown and White, Lehigh University’s student newspaper, “Students, faculty and staff that swipe into these dining halls on Global Cuisine nights are fully immersed in a new culture, with the goal of incorporating every possible aspect of the country culture into the meal.”

“It’s exciting to know that the many diverse cultures at Lehigh are being celebrated in the dining halls via this very creative program,” said Bill Hunter, the director of international outreach. “Food is always a great introduction to one’s culture. It’s a conversation starter, opening the door for a greater understanding. I applaud (Ojeni), an enthusiastic first-year student, for taking the initiative.”

The experience is available to all students from any country. Students interested are encouraged to visit the Dining Services website to access the application form, which requires a name, country and date to interview.

“The next steps are to partner with Lehigh’s communications and admissions office to market how valuable this project can be used to pull in both international and diverse students,” said Ojeni. “I know this project would supplement Lehigh’s student global learning initiative.”

A Guatemalan-inspired dinner was hosted April 28 at Rathbone to celebrate South American flavors. A special menu was created by Lehigh students Cristina Fuertes, ’17, and Fernanda Monzon, ’18.

Global Cuisine is aligned with Lehigh’s goals to create a more diverse, inclusive and open-minded student body.