When Ghada Bakbouk ’19 saw a recent tweet by Donald Trump Jr., she couldn’t help but laugh.
“If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That’s our Syrian refugee problem,” read Trump’s tweet, which also included an image of a bowl of Skittles.
“It was just such a childish comment,” Bakbouk, from Damascus, Syria, said.
Bakbouk used Trump’s tweet as inspiration for an event for Global Engagement Week, a series of activities from Oct. 15-25 that celebrate Kenyon’s international students and opportunities in studying abroad.
Along with several of her peers, Bakbouk will sit in Peirce Hall for a week, offering people the opportunity to try “non-poisoned Skittles” and ask questions about refugees, immigrants, life as an international student and identity in minority groups.
“Having this event will both review what Trump said and deal with it in a more comic way,” Bakbouk said.
Along with the “non-poisoned Skittles” event, Global Engagement Week includes film screenings, dinners, discussion panels and more. View the full schedule of events:
Click on an event for time and location.
All week: Off-Campus Study Photography Show
All week: Non-Poisoned Skittles in Peirce Hall
Oct. 15: Family dinner with international students and host families
Oct. 18: Film screening: “Reel Injun”
Oct. 19: Dessert and Discuss: “U.S. Elections in Focus — How the World Sees It”
Oct. 20: Project for Peace 2016: Zaroorat-Calais
Oct. 20: STEM Study Abroad Panel
Oct. 20: “Who Run the World? Studying Abroad as a Woman”
Oct. 21: Film screening: “Pelo Malo”
Oct. 24: Refuge and Refugees: Israel, Its Neighbors and the Quest for Peace
Oct. 25: OCS in Russian: Returning Students’ Perspectives