This weekend, for the first time, the World Student Association will hold an event called Global Friendship.

The goal is to integrate American students and international students on campus, Adaeze Ononye, president of WSA and originally from Nigeria, said.

The event will be held from 1-4 p.m. Saturday on the Education Building lawn. There will be music, food, games and plenty of ways to socialize, Ononye said.

“We want people all over the world to feel like they live in the same world,” Ononye said. “My major goal is to make a difference and start at BG. Let’s integrate people and make a change.”

WSA is a group all international students are a part of, but this year their focus is to attract more American students to the group. In the past, the group has been almost completely students from countries outside the U.S., Ononye said.

It is important that while here, the international students meet American students and learn American culture — this is why they are here, Ononye said.

“This is not our country so we hope anyone who comes to Global Friendship will learns how to say hello in one language,” Ononye said. “They can make one friend and this way every international student leaves knowing one American student and every American student makes friends with an international student.”

Nicole Myers, education abroad councelor at the University, helped WSO put the event together. She thinks this is a special opportunity for students to expand their friendship circles.

“The goal is to bring together the BGSU community regardless of citizenship, color, or religion for the purpose of a good time in a relaxed atmosphere,” Myers said.

At first, the idea wasn’t to have the event on Sept. 11. The date worked and Ononye said it adds more meaning to Global Friendship, because although the date united the United States as a nation, it also united the world, in the fight against terrorism.

“I was like wow, this is a good idea because and we want people all over the world to feel like they are all in the same world,” Ononye said. “It was scary for international students too.”

Other sponsors of the event include Graduate Student Senate, the Grad Step program and the Education Abroad program.