Annual event features foods, cultures of Lindsey Wilson international students.
by Duane Bonifer
COLUMBIA, KY. (03/18/2026) The foods and cultures of Lindsey Wilson University’s international students will be on display on April 2 at the university’s annual International Marketplace.
This year’s International Marketplace will open at 11 a.m. CT on Thursday, April 2, in the university’s Doris and Bob Holloway Health & Wellness Center. The immersive experience will feature samples of students’ native cuisines as well information about their home countries’ cultures. The annual event is free and open to the public, and it will close when the food runs out.
In past years, the International Marketplace has remained open for about 60-75 minutes.
“This is one of our most popular events every spring,” said Lindsey Wilson International Student Affairs Communications and Global Student Support Coordinator Makayla M. Wright ’24. “Everyone looks forward to it because it’s a wonderful opportunity to taste new foods, as well as learn about cultures from around the world.”
This year’s Lindsey Wilson student body includes more than 160 students from more than 40 countries from six continents. This year’s International Marketplace will feature foods and displays from Australia, Brazil, Colombia, England, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Paraguay, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and Uganda.
“Our international students enjoy being involved with the International Marketplace because they get to share their country’s foods and culture with the campus and the larger community, and it gives them an opportunity to give back to the community,” said Wright.
For more than 75 years, international students have been an important part of the Lindsey Wilson student body. V.P. Henry, who served as a missionary for the Methodist Church in Cuba before he became Lindsey Wilson’s third president, was among the first to welcome international students to campus; every subsequent Lindsey Wilson president has continued the tradition of supporting a robust international student body.
Over the years, Lindsey Wilson’s international students have been involved in the local community in numerous ways — as coaches in youth sports programs, volunteers in the schools and members of area churches. Lindsey Wilson also sponsors a vibrant host family program for international students while they are studying at the university.
For more information about the Lindsey Wilson International Marketplace, contact International Student Affairs Communications and Global Student Support Coordinator Makayla M. Wright ’24 at wrightm2@lindsey.edu or 270-384-8219.
This year’s Lindsey Wilson University International Marketplace, pictured from 2025, will open at 11 a.m. CT on Thursday, April 2, at the university’s Doris and Bob Holloway Health & Wellness Center.
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 30 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university’s 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
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(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson University)