Free Event to Take Place February 16 at Williamson Campus

Photo: Students at Columbia State's Williamson County Campus partake in last year's "International Love Feast."

The Williamson County Campus of Columbia State Community College will host the second annual International Love Feast sponsored by the offices of Access & Diversity and Student Services on Tuesday, February 16. The festivities will take place between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. and again between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. outside the Campus Bookstore on the Williamson County Campus. The event is free and open to the public.

"We started this last year-it was based around the theme of Valentine's Day on the theme of how you say love in different languages," said Daniel Johnson, assistant professor of communication studies at Columbia State. "Last year's feast was a wonderful event. We try to make a special effort to include night students in the activities by having the evening session."

Everyone is encouraged to bring a covered dish that represents their heritage. "Last year's feast featured dishes from England, India and Russia," added Johnson.

The nationally renowned "Leipers Fork Bluegrass Group" will provide entertainment at the noon gathering and a group of Columbia State students will make an announcement during the event regarding a class project supporting disaster relief in Haiti.

"We have a lot of international students at Columbia State," said Johnson. "This event promotes diversity. We want our students to begin thinking about the world beyond Middle Tennessee. We encourage folks to come out and take part in it."

Columbia State is a two-year college, serving a nine-county area in southern Middle Tennessee with locations in Columbia, Franklin, Lawrenceburg, Lewisburg and Clifton. The Williamson County Campus has served Williamson County residents for more than 30 years, and currently serves more than 1,400 students in the various program areas of Nursing, EMT/Paramedic, Business Technology, Commercial Entertainment, and more. For more information, please visit www.columbiastate.edu.