Minnesota International Student Association

Founding of MISA

The Minnesota International Student Association was founded in the early 1950s, not as an individual student-based group, but as a council of affiliated organizations working to support the needs of the University's international student community. A couple decades later, MISA changed its mission, and today we find this organization promoting a multicultural community of domestic and international students through its room, its events, and its relationships with affiliated student groups.

MISA's major leadership included Dr. Josef Mestenhauser and Dr. Kay Thomas. Mestenhauser, Distinguished International Emeritus Professor in the Department of Educational Policy and Administration, began his university career as an international student from Czechoslovakia during World War II. Mestenhauser founded MISA and continued to be involved with the organization until the 1970s while being the Director of the International Student and Scholar Services. Thomas, another early scholar of International Education, was the next director of the International Student and Scholar Services department at the University of Minnesota, which allowed her to keep up with supporting the organization after Mestenhauser left the department.

Since its founding, MISA's membership has generated cultural events, language classes, intercultural discussion groups, and a host of other programs serving to promote international awareness within the campus community. In exchange, the organization benefits from the limitless creativity and devotion from talented students coming from all parts of the world.

Mission

MISA is an organization dedicated to supporting and promoting a multicultural community of students, creating opportunities for domestic and international students to make long-lasting connections and gain new cultural perspectives. The organization's mission is four-part:

To promote and enhance international awareness
To provide programs that support and serve the needs of international students
To act as an "umbrella" organization for the international and cultural student groups at the University of Minnesota
To engage students and enhance their ties to the community

MISA has grown to become a major source of support for international students at the University of Minnesota, and serves as a bridge between the University and the international student community. MISA gives back to the campus and to the Twin Cities through its community engagement days and meaningful leadership opportunities provided for both international and domestic students. MISA hopes to continue its service to the campus community each year with new events, new ideas, and new student membership.

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Minnesota International Student Association

MISA Mural