Late Wednesday morning, the smell of international cuisine filled the lawn outside the Rhatigan Student Center, bringing in students, staff, and faculty all around campus.
Wichita State’s International Student Union hosted its biannual ‘InterFest,’ the International Food Festival, in front of the Grace Memorial Chapel.
Around 13 different vendors offered signature dishes from various countries, including Paraguay, Iran, Japan and Nigeria. The event gave attendees the opportunity to revisit their favorite cuisines as well as try new dishes from different corners of the world.
Chinonyelum Archie, a Nigerian native pursuing a master’s degree in creative writing and a member of the African and Caribbean Student Association, served jollof rice, a traditional West African dish.
“Typically, it’s just rice and Nigerian spices with tomato,” Archie said. “And then I added some carrots and green pepper.”
This year, Sigma Lambda Beta, the Latino-based fraternity on campus, partnered with local restaurant Paleteria La Reyna to sell paletas, a Mexican ice pop.
“We pretty much just want to fund our philanthropies,” Gilberto Aguilera, a member of Sigma Lambda Beta, said. “Hopefully, we can use these proceeds for our Dreamers Scholarship.”
Students Randall D’cruz and Pavan Nalukurthi joined the festivities to serve traditional Indian food.
“We just wanted to make it,” Nalukurthi said. “I just like cooking.”
While the two were not affiliated with a specific student organization at the event, they put time and effort into sharing their country’s cuisine with students. Randall D’cruz said they spent all night cooking.
“We’re only running on, like, 30 minutes of sleep,” D’cruz said, “but we’re having a good time.”
Pam Jerome and Aimee Leisy, intensive English educators on campus, are seasoned regulars of the food festival.
“We come every year,” Leisy said. “We love this event. We work with international students, and we always try to support (them).”
