Ohio State students enjoy the Office of International Affairs’ Taste of OSU 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Victor van Buchem
The Office of International Affairs is hosting a culture-filled event at the Ohio Union Friday from 5 to 8:30 p.m. With multicultural performances, exhibits and food provided by different Ohio State international student organizations, Taste of OSU helps students share and celebrate their cultures.
Maureen Miller, spokesperson for International Affairs, said the event allows Ohio State’s international communities to share and celebrate their culture.
“Taste of OSU provides the international student community a space to share their country and their country’s traditions with the campus community,” Miller said. “I think that the Ohio State community is interested in learning more about our international student population.”
Food is a large component of culture, and Taste of OSU is centered around giving students a bite-sized experience of different cultures from around the world through specially prepared international dishes, including Nigerian spiced grilled beef skewers from African Youth League, flan de queso from Puerto Rican Student Association, bruschetta from French Club and Italian Club and many more, according to the Office of International Affairs website.
Taste of OSU is free to attend. Food tickets are available for purchase online and in person for $1 with BuckID and credit or debit, according to the Office of International Affairs website.
Seventeen Ohio State international student organizations were selected to cook two dishes that best represent their countries, and two will provide beverage-only options.
Christine Lee, Taste of OSU chair, said each item will be priced between one to four tickets depending on the complexity of the dish.
“You’re able to purchase a lot of bite-sizes of food from different cultures, making all the students able to engage in that variety,” Lee said.
Lee said she usually purchases 10 to 15 tickets for the full experience of trying different offerings.
Even the process of cooking the dishes builds community, as Miller said students cook alongside each other and Dining Services staff at the Ohio Union.
“Food means family and community, and that’s kind of where you get to know one another, is over a meal,” Miller said.
Miller said the chefs that help cook for the event are crucial to Taste of OSU’s success.
“We have a great partnership with campus dining, and the chefs at the Ohio Union that help us make this happen are just fabulous,” Miller said. “They love working with the students, so it’s really been a great partnership for many, many years. We couldn’t do this without them.”
While students enjoy their food at the event, they can watch 26 cultural performances from organizations including Chinese Folk Music Orchestra and The Irish Dance Team, according to the Office of International Affairs website.
“It’s all sorts of different performances, and this event makes the students so joyful,” Miller said. “They are so excited for this event. To cook in the kitchens with one another, to perform on stage alongside their friends, I think just brings them a lot of joy.”
An annual event, Taste of OSU reaches thousands of students, international and non-international, but Miller said it was born from a small group of international students in Oxley Hall in 1997.
“I think international students were missing food from home at that time, and so they said, ‘Can we have [a] kind of potluck in your office space?’” Miller said.
With an electric rice cooker and a chicken roaster that kept overloading the circuit breaker, about 60 people gathered on the front lawn of Oxley Hall to share an international meal, Miller said.
Maggie Gu, Taste of OSU chair-elect, said she hopes students enjoy that same sense of community.
“I’m hoping students will get to experience a variety of different cultural performances and music,” Gu said. “I’m also pretty excited to see the food that all the groups are going to come up with.”
Miller said Taste of OSU provides a space for students from diverse backgrounds to celebrate their cultures and build community.
“It’s important to share with the campus community the different cultures and perspectives that international students bring to Ohio State,” Miller said. “We’re just trying to provide a space for those students to share things about their home countries that people may never know or see.”
