Belonging and community: a global educator’s goal
International educational exchange is founded on the fundamental assumption that students are interacting across many differences - language, social class, experiences, access to educational opportunities and more. Many resources in professional associations advise on intercultural programming as frameworks to support international student and exchange success. The University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, in the state of Minnesota, United States, stands on Miní Sóta Makhóčhe, the homelands of the Dakhóta Oyáte. In our International Student and Scholar Services Office, we are committed to moving beyond just sharing Land Aknowledgement and to doing our intercultural and global education work with action, to honour and celebrate indigenous ways of knowing and being. As a framework of our work, we looked at ways to decolonise knowledge and to reassess how we were seeing student engagement, belonging and community within the international student population.
As a framework of our work, we looked at ways to decolonise knowledge and to reassess how we were seeing student engagement, belonging and community within the international student population.
Rethinking student engagement
Our campus has been looking at access to food as an area of need for our students, including offering inclusive and diverse foods in the Residence Halls such as halal meals, addressing food insecurity particularly among international students, and increasing access to the Nutritious U Food Pantry, a program that offers weekly free meals and free groceries items and basic needs to any student regardless of need. A particular focus for campus partners has been the holiday season, especially winter break, when most students travel back to their home cities or countries, some University offices close or limit their hours, and there is less foot traffic on campus. However, some students stay on campus due to employment, financial reasons or personal reasons.
In the 2024-2025 academic year, we received a generous donation to support connections between US and international students, both on and off campus, during winter break. This became a unique opportunity to collaborate with 10 campus partners to prioritise reducing isolation and homesickness while also addressing food insecurity by providing meals. With quick strategic planning and action, over 600 students participated in this campus wide initiative during our pilot year. The students themselves highlighted that the program’s impact was in creating a community and building a sense of belonging. This outcome was achieved because various campus partners prioritised inclusion as their goal; instead of focusing only on reducing food insecurity, we looked at the holistic goal of our initiative to serve our student population best. The question in student engagement was how to ensure that our students felt at home when they were physically away. The best framework to understand this question and its results is the model on self actualisation of the Blackfoot Nation, a group of Algonquian-speaking peoples indigenous to North America.
Holding space for our communities
In Bray’s Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Blackfoot Nation Belief | Rethinking Learning (Bray, B., 2019, March 10), the Blackfoot Nation’s model shares that self actualisation is the foundation of an individual. In western literature, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs often focuses on addressing basic needs first. This initiative focused on creating a community and belonging first, resulting in a deeper impact in our students' daily life with the added benefit of addressing access to food. We also know that gathering over meals is a way to build belonging and create space for connection. The student leaders for this initiative shared the impact the program had to themselves as individuals, and as a community. They shared that they could, in fact, change and improve other students’ experiences on campus. This realisation, or self actualisation of their potential, is another element that is embedded in our student leadership frameworks. We have therefore focused our engagement models on community actualisation first as a goal to support international students. The question became: can we rethink engagement models to look at community actualisation as a first step towards wellbeing? For example, at the University of Minnesota, staff initiatives have created identity-based caucuses that provide a common space for students to connect with those who are experiencing University life in a similar manner, with similar challenges based on their identities. Sometimes, students do not know what to expect when studying at the University of Minnesota or in the United States, until they arrive. In these spaces, students can find communities where they can share these experiences, discern actions and understand the complexities of their identities in a US context.
The question became: can we rethink engagement models to look at community actualisation as a first step towards wellbeing?
A student who took part in these spaces said: "I vividly remember the power of holding space for each other within the Caucus. It’s incredible to see how confident we've become in our own skins, regardless of where we are in our journey to understanding our unique intersectionalities. This experience has shown me the importance of fostering networks for social change and embracing the diverse identities of international students within their home contexts… Here, we have become braver versions of ourselves, a little less afraid of being who we are and a little more aware of our true selves and who we should be. We embrace the nonbinary understanding of our growth as LGBTQIA+ international students, carrying the complex layers of oppression and privilege that intersect in our identities."
Most important, however, is the day-to-day gestures and small actions that truly matter. When talking about belonging, it is important to also share our own stories. At a recent campus event, we asked our audience to close their eyes and imagine what it was like to arrive at a new place and think of what made a difference to them to feel welcomed, belonging and included. Several shared that it was a seemingly small gesture such as someone saying their names and greeting them, taking them to lunch or opening a door for them. Gestures do not always have to be grand, initiatives do not need to be complicated, and actions do not need multiple steps to create impact. Marina had this experience herself: "I remember, as a former international student, the first person that issued my I-20 document for my F1 visa, and I often tell this story to others. I share this story because I remember how kind and patient he was with my multiple questions, and I remembered his name after many years. Coincidentally, we now work in similar fields and have meetings together, and often share this story to remind colleagues that what seemed to be an everyday task for him, really made an impression on me. Small acts, as evidenced by the belonging activity, my story, and data, have a true lasting impact."
