Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

THOMPSON RIVERS UNIVERSITY

TRU World celebrates 40th anniversary of international education, kicks off IDays festival

Mar 8, 2023 | 4:14 PM

KAMLOOPS — Thompson Rivers University is home to more than 25,000 students across all its programs, pursuing an education with the goal of one day using that knowledge in their careers. That includes more than 4,200 international students from more than 100 different countries around the world.

“For the vast majority of them, their native language is not English,” TRU VP International Biahua Chadwick tells CFJC Today. “They have to first learn the language, then they’re sitting in class and they have to learn the subject, the contents. Yes, it is more challenging for our students, but I’m so proud the vast majority of them are succeeding and they’re doing so well.”

Now called TRU World, the international program has grown exponentially since its humble beginning back in 1984.

Dr. Charles Mossop was the founder of the International Department at Cariboo College. Now, 40 years later, he’s pleased to see how his original idea has grown into what’s now known as TRU World.

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Dr. Charles Mossop celebrates the formation of the International Department at Cariboo College 40 years ago (Image Credit: TRU World)

“I was blessed to have around me a very excellent team of dedicated professionals. That system has prevailed,” Dr. Mossop explains. “The department has grown and grown — more than 60 people now — and they share the vision of internationalization that I had. This is the result.”

On Wednesday (Mar. 8), TRU kicked off its IDays celebration, an opportunity to acknowledge the impact those international students have on not only the campus but the community as a whole.

“So many people don’t have an opportunity to interact with and get to know people from other cultures, and religious systems and traditions,” Dr. Mossop says. “Now, this institution and Kamloops as a university city provide that opportunity to everybody.”

Chadwick was once an international student. She knows the value that studying in a foreign country can have — not only for the student.

“Many of them will become future Canadian citizens,” Chadwick suggests. “They’ll contribute to Canada’s prosperity in the very near future.”

TRU IDays runs from March 8 to 10 and features a broad range of activities on campus for the whole community. For more information and a full schedule of events, you can visit TRU.ca/internationaldays.