March is the month for college basketball because of ‘March Madness,’ which is why the Office of Global Education will be hosting a new Global Jam Basketball Tournament March 11.

Participants in the tournament will pick a country that they want to represent. The participating teams are China, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, India, the U.S. and Brazil. The tournament will be held at the Kent State Student Recreation and Wellness Center from 1 – 6 p.m and is free for all students to attend.

Angela Schwarzer, international student and scholar advisor, said students don’t have to be from a certain country in order to represent it. International students are participating in this tournament along with domestic students and faculty members.

“Some of the teams represent a country, while some of the teams are students from different countries that get together and come up with a team,” Schwarzer said.

She said it provides a great opportunity to integrate domestic and international students.

Michael Taylor, marketing and communications specialist for the Office of Global Education, hopes a lot of domestic students come out for the tournament.

“I’m hoping for a big turnout especially from domestic students so they can show their support for the international students here,” Taylor said.

Schwarzer said she hopes students will be able to become friends by playing basketball and having the ability to share a little bit of their culture with a diverse group of students.

“This is a special time,” she said. “I’m hoping our domestic students will show support to international students on campus and help them make friends with people all over the world and learn from each other.”

Eryn Gebacz is the international students and issues reporter, contact her at [email protected].