Twelfth Annual Parade of Flags

Nearly 500 local fifth graders will carry the international flags of over 200 nations during the Twelfth annual Parade of Flags, set to step off at 11:30 a.m. Friday, September 16, 2011, from the east side of Huskie Stadium.

Participants will march along Lucinda Avenue to the Martin Luther King Commons, where Dr. Deborah Pierce, Associate Provost of International Programs, and Daihee Cho, an NIU student in the Department of Accountancy will address the audience.    

“We hope the excitement of the Parade helps DeKalb area fifth graders open their minds to the world,” said Pierce.  “A global perspective holds so many opportunities for them, and the pathway to those opportunities can start right here at NIU.” 

The students, their teachers, chaperones and other parade participants will enjoy a pre-parade luncheon on the grass near the stadium (rain location is the Convocation Center).  

Also prior to the parade, participating students from DeKalb District 428 will have an opportunity to meet with NIU international students and study-abroad participants, to learn directly from the NIU students about other countries where they have lived. 

“Parade of Flags celebrates the partnership between NIU and District 428 as both organizations seek to prepare young people for the global marketplace of the 21^st century,” Pierce said. 

In the last academic year NIU enrolled students from nearly 90 nations, with India and China sending the largest numbers.  NIU also enrolls students from such nations as Nepal, Turkmenistan, Eritrea, Benin, and Saudi Arabia, demonstrating the great diversity of the international student body.