Hundreds of BU students from around the world set sail Friday night on a Moonlight Cruise in Boston Harbor through the International Students Consortium.
The annual cruise drew about 550 people this year, ISC Vice President Sue Yam said. More than 10 cultural groups sponsored it through the consortium.
The ISC advertised the cruise through flyers in the George Sherman Union, residence and dining halls. Tickets were sold in the GSU Link and in the Warren Towers Dining Hall during the weeks prior to the event.
The boat left Rowes Wharf in Boston Harbor at 11:30 p.m. and people continued to dance until the boat docked again at 2:30 a.m. Yam said the ISC scheduled the cruise early in the year so that international and non-international students, mainly freshmen, could mingle.
"It was a total success," the School of Management junior said. College of Arts and Sciences freshman Bashayer Al-Bader is from Kuwait said she used the cruise as a way to meet more international students at BU.
"It's an opportunity to meet people and socialize away from the academic atmosphere," she said. "I like meeting people."
Students aboard the cruise had access to two dance floors with different music on each, a 21-plus bar and two outdoor decks where students had the opportunity to talk about their experiences as international students.
The dance floors featured a variety of music, both in English and foreign languages.
The International Students Consortium was formed five years ago and has hosted the cruise for the past three years. It has about 500 members and won the Student Organization of the Year award last year, Yam said.
The ISC organizes three annual events, Yam said, including a charity event in November or December. Last year the ISC sold tickets to ice skating at Frog Pond, which raised money for the BU Red Cross to help tsunami victims.
SMG seniors Erika Palo and Laryssa Wozniak said although they are not international students, they found out about the cruise through some of their international friends.
"It's so rare that you have an event like this," Palo said. "Here you can see BU has school spirit."
"I kind of regret not going before," Wozniak added.
From the boat decks, students beheld a view of downtown Boston.
"Boston is so beautiful," SMG junior Claudia Goetsch, who is from Spain, said. "I'm so glad I finally saw it."
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