Fostering Global Community: The Evolution of International Coffee Hour at FSU

The Center for Global Engagement’s (CGE) International Coffee Hour (ICH) is one of longest running and most successful weekly events held at FSU. In the last 25 years, ICH has grown from a small gathering of a few international students into an extremely popular social and cultural program with an average of 400 students, staff and faculty in attendance weekly. Approximately 65% of the attendees are US students, 30% are international students and about 5% are faculty and staff.

ICH was initiated in the early 2000s as an opportunity for international students to gather after classes on Friday in the basement of the former International Center (located where Traditions Residence Hall now stands). Attendance was usually five or six students who enjoyed percolator coffee and store-bought cookies. Although it provided an opportunity to talk with other international students, what students most wanted was an opportunity to meet and befriend US students.

Fast forward to today’s International Coffee Hour held weekly in the Globe – home to the Center for Global Engagement (formerly called the International Center) since 2010. Hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students line up before ICH begins at five and the building is filled with loud conversation and lots of energy. ICH has definitely evolved into one of the most successful weekly programs designed to promote interaction among all students at FSU. The CGE co-hosts with a different student organization or department each week in order to showcase that student group, as well as to provide an opportunity for the co-hosting departments to share resources and services with the student attendees. The store-bought cookies have been replaced with authentic snacks and desserts prepared in the commercial kitchen using recipes provided by international student groups. Attendees are treated weekly to delicious desserts and snacks ranging from baklava, tres leches and beignets to mini focaccia sandwiches, dumplings and samosas. Coffee, tea and cold drinks typical of different cultures are always provided.

Students gather throughout the lobby, lounge, dining room and the outside patio meeting old friends and making new ones right up until the event ends at 6:30. FSU international alumnus Neeraj Jeswaini (MS in Statistics 2019) recalled being nervous and unsure when walking into ICH for the first time when he arrived to FSU in 2017. He was greeted by students from around the world and says “it was one of those rare spaces where you could taste (food) from other cultures, sit down at a table of strangers and leave with friends.” He says those Fridays “gave me a sense of belonging when everything else around me was new” and says that some of his closest friendships in Tallahassee started at ICH.

International Coffee Hour not only provides a welcoming and friendly space for the campus community but also provides opportunities for students to become actively engaged in various programs. “Attending ICH inspired me to fully embrace my interest of learning about other cultures and impacted my career path,” said Annette Zamsky, an education major who first attended ICH as a sophomore and will graduate spring with a master’s degree. She not only attended ICH weekly, but also volunteered to be a Global Nole, enrolled in and completed the Global Citizenship Certificate with honors, and volunteered as a facilitator in English Conversation Partner Program. “All of these experiences provided me with the opportunity not only to support international students but also to learn from them and I now look forward to a career in international education,” said Zamsky. She just completed a Fulbright application to be an English Teaching Assistant in Luxembourg for the 2026-2027 award cycle and is hopeful about being selected.