Football can key cultural integration

When someone mentions USC, most people think football, game day, athletic and academic excellence and the Trojan Family. For international students hailing from outside of the United States, however, the avid USC sports culture might not ring so many bells.

Last fall, USC’s international student enrollment rose to an all-time high of 6,944 students. International students make up nearly 19 percent of overall student enrollment, yet can easily be lost when it comes to one of the most integral parts to the Trojan experience: football.

Edwin Rodriguez | Daily Trojan

“USC football doesn’t really get most international kids pumped up mainly because they haven’t seen it before or understand the rules of the game,” said Shiladitya Mukherjee, a senior from India majoring in  mechanical engineering. “However, I do think that the tailgates and the pre-game atmosphere contribute to the making international kids feel part of the Trojan Family.”

The American collegiate football culture at USC is unique in its ability to bring students, faculty and alumni together and runs parallel to the incomparably strong Trojan network, which links students to valuable connections via alumni and a strong sense of community.

Orientation sessions and school-run programs often fall short in truly integrating foreign students into the USC community.

Capitalizing on the football atmosphere USC is so well-known for would foster better international integration and could launch USC to an overall higher level of  quality.

The university should make an effort to integrate foreign students into the football scene by offering an informational workshop at international student orientation. By doing this, international students unfamiliar with the sport will be more able to understand and truly enjoy and immerse themselves in the USC football experience, and more importantly, the USC
experience.

Student organizations are also a great forum for integration through interaction with American students, who might be more knowledgeable about USC sports.

“There are quite a number of international student clubs and organizations that really help students ease into the culture at USC while giving them a taste of home at the same time,” Mukherjee said.

USC and California have a lot to gain from assuming a leadership role when it comes to being innovative in welcoming more international
students.

So much of USC life is shaped and defined by athletics. There couldn’t be a better, stronger, more interactive space than the USC sports culture with which we could increase international integration.

Elena Kadvany is a senior majoring in Spanish.