Program seeks families to host Thanksgiving
International students join holiday celebrations
The Office of International Student and Scholar Services is seeking families
to participate in the Betty Grimwood Thanksgiving Homestay Program.
Area families are needed to host one or more international students from
the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 25, through Sunday, Nov. 30. Families also
are needed Nov. 27 only to provide Thanksgiving dinner to one or more
international students.
The program gives the students an opportunity to experience Thanksgiving
with an American family.
This marks the 49th year Kansas and Kansas City-area families will celebrate
Thanksgiving with international student guests from KU. The homestay program
was named in honor of Betty Grimwood, a Burns resident who helped to organize
homestay visits in Burns, about 60 miles northeast of Wichita, from 1954
through 1998. Following her death in May 1999, Grimwood’s friends
and relatives continued the Burns Thanksgiving community tradition of
inviting international students from KU for a weekend visit.
Last year 27 families and 29 students participated in the program. This
fall 1,644 international students from 112 countries are enrolled at KU.
To apply for the program, families and students can contact Carol Dias
da Silva, (785) 864-3617, or carol@ku.edu.
KU international students’ top 10 countries
of origin
• India, 256
• China (including Hong Kong and Macau), 217
• Korea, 168
• Japan, 107
• Saudi Arabia, 76
• Taiwan, 60
• Malaysia, 54
• Canada, 46
• Germany, 34
• Brazil, 33