The organizers of the annual University of Bridgeport International Festival have instituted a number of changes this year. The process by which students sign up to participate in the festival, and the rewards that they get for doing so have been altered. The committee has been heavily promoting, among other things, free tickets for students who sign up early. Dawn Sedutto, Director of International Student Affairs and member of the International Festival Organization Committee, explained how the sign-up process differed this year from years prior. Firstly, it has always been the practice for students to be allowed to sign up to participate any time before the actual day of the festival. This year, the deadline is March 31, almost two weeks before the festival date.
This was also the first year they implemented an early sign up program. Traditionally, students who participated in the festival, and signed up at any time, would get a discounted ticket at seven dollars. This year, countries that signed up before March 3 became eligible for free participant tickets. The countries that made the early sign up were Israel, Japan, Mexico, Nepal, Ukraine and the United States. Sedutto mentioned that the number of free participant tickets are limited, and if more tickets are requested than available, some students may still have to pay for their tickets.
Of course, countries signing up between March 4 and March 31, and those having participants who exceed the allotted free ticket number, can still buy the discounted participant tickets. Also, students who receive free tickets to the festival will not be allowed to watch the performances from seats in the auditorium, and if they wish to do so they will have to pay the seven dollars. Many students feel that this negates much of the value of the tickets.
Another new policy involves handing in an information sheet before March 31 about one’s respective country for bonus points on the judging scores for their presentations. If student groups submit a written description of their performance, it will be worth one point on their total performance score. Students are also asked to provide a recipe for the food that their booth serves, and a short fact sheet for their country, for one point each on their total booth score. This will give students a better chance of winning the cash prizes offered, which were substantially increased last year thanks to contributions from the school budget. Sedutto said that the new sign-up incentives are measures to try to increase student participation in the event, which has dwindled in the last two years. In International Festival 2002, only 20 countries were represented by a booth. In 2001, there were 19. By comparison, there were 29 booths in 2000. In a school with a 38% international population, placing the number at almost 1200 international students from 79 different countries, Sedutto feels that these numbers are disappointing. This is also excluding domestic students who identify with one or more ethnic backgrounds.
She hopes, “…that the offer of better prizes and free participant tickets will help raise participation and interest.” For students that signed up, though they appreciate the added bonuses, those bonuses are not the reason they did so. Cynthia Alvidrez, the student taking the lead of the Mexican booth, said, “I realize that there aren’t very many Mexicans here, and I wanted to represent where I’m from, because I’m proud of where I’m from. We have good food, decorations and entertainment, and I wanted people to see it.” Andriy Shevchuk, the organizer for the Ukraine, told us, “I was planning to make a booth before I found out about the free tickets. The International Festival is one of the best events in UB ever.