Colby has consistently struggled at addressing the issues of peoples from marginalized identities, but what about those who don’t fall into traditional special interest backgrounds. Recognizing the lack of focus in certain groups, in our case specifically International Students, a group of students and faculty decided to change this by creating, curating, and refining existing multimedia collections that document and chronicle the memories of international students at Colby College. Furthermore, the group sought to build on this gallery by collecting and organizing more recent materials including multimedia assets, print documents, pictures of objects from their home countries.
In our eyes, the presence of International students on campus has shifted dramatically over the past couple decades, especially with Colby’s focus on recruiting a more ethnically, racially and socially diverse international student body. Although this push for diversity is definitely beneficial for Colby’s creation of a more inclusive community, the unique stories and struggles of international students all but seem to fade after their four years here. These stories, containing the struggles, the joys, the moments of growth, even the moments of calm, are all valuable and integral in the documentation of students on this campus, and more broadly, the United States post-secondary schooling systems in general. Thus, the value of creating an anthology of experiences, if you will, depicting “Internationals on the hill” is immeasurable. Our group also foresees this project as a topic of interest that can appeal to past international alumni, current international students, and even prospective international applicants.