Dear Student Body,

In this report I would like to discuss what the Congress is doing to address the needs of a specific group on campus. There are over 1,000 international students that study at OU, and they come from dozens of countries. That means they come with a wealth of different languages and ideas, which can vary widely from what domestic students are used to.

These students often face challenges that domestic students do not. One such problem is the lack of transportation. Very rarely do international students come to OU with a vehicle, which means that they have to walk everywhere. That means, for the many international students that live off campus, they have to walk to school. This is challenging, since every road that surrounds OU is a high density, 45-mile-per-hour road.

To address the transportation issue, the Congress plans to work with the Bear Bus to establish routes to the Beacon Hill apartments, which would allow an easier commute for international students.

Often times in classes international students are intimidated to ask questions for fear that they will be judged. They are often worried that domestic students will judge because their English skills are not the best; this was a fear I experienced during my own study abroad experience, and it can cause severe anxiety.

If you are a student reading this, please keep an open mind and be welcoming to all students on Oakland’s campus. If you are a professor reading this, please be patient and understanding with students whose English skills might not be perfect yet.

The Congress is doing what we can to welcome and involve international students on campus. One such way that we are trying to get international students involved is the International Student Advocacy Committee, which is chaired by Fawaz Alkhhudhayr.

If you are interested in getting involved with Student Congress, we currently have many positions open on our Legislature and on our many committees, including the International Student Advocacy Committee! Our Research and Review Chair Halle Haneckow is our first point of contact to get involved. Her email is [email protected]. If you would like to reach out to the congress about any pressing concerns you have about campus life, feel free to reach out to [email protected].

إذا كنت مهتما بالانضمام للمؤتمر الطلابي، فلدينا حاليا العديد من المناصب المفتوحة في الهيئة التشريعية وفي لجاننا المتعددة, بما في ذلك اللجنة الدولية للدعوة الطلابية. رئيسة قسم الأبحاث والمراجعة Halle Haneckow هي أول نقطة لدينا للتواصل للراغبين في الانضمام. بريدها الالكتروني هو

[email protected]. للاسئلة والاستفسارات حول أي من شؤون المؤتمر, أو الحياة في الحرم الجامعي, لا تتردد في التواصل مع  [email protected].

亲爱的同学们，目前我们学生委员会有很多职位开放，包括国际生宣传组等等，如果您有兴趣的话请联系研究审核部门主席 Halle Haneckow。她的邮箱是： [email protected].。 若您对校园生活有什么不满或投诉，请发邮件至： [email protected] 联系学生会。 谢谢！

A special thanks to Fawaz Alkhhudhayr and Danyi Han, who provided the Arabic and Mandarin translations respectively.

Best Wishes,

Ryan M. Fox