UB Group for International Graduate Students

UB Group for International Graduate Students (UB GIGS) aims at bridging the gap between the International student community and the rest of the university community. We seek membership not only from ESL (English as a Second Language) and/or international graduate students, but also from “allies,” any graduate student who is willing to work towards our goal to bring changes in U.S. higher education systems. We have two missions. First, we would like to bring awareness of being ESL and/or international graduate students at the University at Buffalo by providing a place of cultural solidarity; our goal is relieve the sense of isolation of being numerical and cultural minorities in the UB community. Second, we advocate ourselves, targeting at communicating with UB’s non-international graduate students, faculty members, and the university administrative staff in order to bring changes in the current educational environment and the commitment to foster global citizens. Activities we plan to sponsor include, but are not limited to, welcome meetings, cuisine meetings, mentorship programs, and long-term advocacy and recruitment events.