From the tradition of trick-or-treating on Embassy Row to the myriad of cultural performances on campus, Georgetown makes a point to stay true to its reputation as an international university. But the presence of students and traditions from far flung corners of the world is never felt more strongly than during iWeek, Georgetown’s week — long celebration of all pluralism and multiculturalism.

This was the landmark 15th year for iWeek, with just under 20 events, activities and contests dedicated to the celebration of Georgetown’s international student body. The week of events comes to a close Sunday, after kicking off last Saturday with the third annual iCup soccer tournament.

Kelsey Spitz (SFS ’10), one of the week’s student coordinators, said that iWeek hopes to keep “maintaining and enriching the experiences of the past 15 years.”

At its conception iWeek gave the many international and cross — cultural events at Georgetown a chance to be something bigger than simply a series of unrelated events, so the celebratory week was created to give the events more visibility and attention, said Stephanie Hertz, program coordinator for the Office of International Programs and staff advisor for the International Student Association. The name “iWeek” was a product of the students’ imagination, she added, with the “i” standing “for not just for international but also for the individual, the student.”

Each year, the week is organized and jointly funded by OIP and the Center for Student Programs. Student groups and clubs approached OIP about getting involved, and then they received funding from OIP, which has a budget of $4,000 to $5,000 set aside for iWeek. Hertz said she believes iWeek is an “opportunity for the entire Georgetown community to come together and celebrate what we think is Georgetown’s international culture and international nature.”

One campus group, the Georgetown University Irish American Society, rearranged its plans for St. Patrick’s Day so that they could be part of iWeek. GUIAS held a Ceili and Seisiun, a traditional group Irish dance with music, on Sunday in Bulldog Alley.

“It was hard for us to secure the musicians for St. Patty’s Day because it’s such a busy season,” Caitlin Kelly (COL ’08), GUIAS co-president, said. “[The organizers of iWeek] were very helpful for the planning and advertising.”

Kelly thought that it would be good to become involved with the week-long event when looking back at last year’s program.

“There was a list of past cultural groups on it, but we weren’t, and I thought it would be a good way to get our name out there,” she said.

The week culminates in undoubtedly the largest event, iParty, which takes place on Harbin Patio this Friday. Spitz, the student coordinator of iParty, described the event as an “outdoor cultural festival.”

Plugged as a chance to “come taste our world,” Harbin Patio will be taken over by over 25 tables of food from different countries, representing four continents, and meal tickets will allow attendees to try food from up to three tables. In addition, entertainment for the evening will come in the form of several dancing groups and DJs Ravi Savani (COL ’08) and Sebas Garaycoa (SFS ’10).

“It’s a really great opportunity for the international community to come together but also the non-international community to come together, and that’s why I really call it a cultural festival — because it’s an opportunity to share and celebrate its collective identity,” Spitz said. Each table is sponsored by a student group or individual who was interested in sharing their national cuisine with the student body. Kristen Larson (SFS ’10), an organizer of the Italian club’s table, jokingly describes the festival as “a bunch of Italians and a bunch of Italian wannabes and we cook up a bunch of food. It’s a smorgasbord.”

Margaret Rohrmann (SFS ’08), a coordinator of the Latin American Student Association’s table said that “the party, and each table, also portrays a little bit of what our club does and stands for. For LASA it would be fun-loving people [who are] from Latin America or just interested in the region.”

With expected attendance levels to reach up to 200 or 300, iParty serves as the culmination of all of the events from the week by combining all of the different cultural groups on campus in one evening. “It gives the opportunity to the international students, or international students at heart, to be at the center of attention of campus activities,” Rohrmann said.

One of the events targeting multi-cultural social issues, The Smoke Out is an initiative designed to help students make a step toward a smoke-free life. Although smoking can be a delicate issue for some, Stephanie Frangos (SFS ’09), National Society of Collegiate Scholars executive vice president, is quick to note that it’s not just an anti-smoking campaign. “The Smoke Out is a pledge that both smokers and non-smokers could sign pledging that they would not smoke for one hour, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Thursday — and get the chance to win some really great prizes.”

The event, which is sponsored by NSCS, Pre-Med Society, the Black House and the School of Foreign Service Academic Council, had its first appearance in iWeek this year and tried to spread some information about health problems associated with smoking.

While an event like this can be organized any time of year, iWeek in particular presented some specific advantages, namely the opportunity to have a wider audience and reach out to some international students on campus and to “involve the most students that we could,” Frangos said. “We just thought that there could be discrepancies between the type of smoking education that goes on internationally. … We’d be missing a part of the issue if we didn’t address the international aspect of the issue.”

“Our goal was to promote smoking awareness and we tried to be careful to include smokers and non-smokers and not to isolate either smokers or non-smokers,” Frangos explained.

“The unique thing about iWeek is that I would say looking at the events this year there’s a mixture,” Hertz said.” There’s definitely an international [aspect], but you have students who were abroad and become involved, and you also have language departments that want to be involved. The events themselves are definitely international in nature but not necessarily the participants.”

Adds Spitz: “It is a unique chance to appreciate how our cultural heritage and experiences shape our Georgetown campus and journey, and how the intersection of so many different lifestyles creates the awesome mosaic of life we enjoy each day.”