History

Borderless Hosts began in the spring of 2008 under the development of Hawken Brackett, an undergraduate student in the Appalachian Leadership Honors Program (ALHP). The program was developed as an ALHP service-learning project to aid in the internationalization of Mississippi State and the Starkville community. Borderless Hosts seeks to make connections on the individual, community, and global level.

So far, the program has matched 48 different families and mentors with 114 different international students. Just as the volunteers range in age and background, so do the students. Students who have participated in the program so far hail from 21 different countries. These countries include: Belgium, Cambodia, Chile, China, France, Honduras, Germany, Jamaica, Japan, India, Nepal, Nigeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sudan, Venezuela, and Vietnam. Families and mentors are matched with students based on preferences, as close as possible.

Group gatherings sponsored by Borderless Hosts include the opening dinner with an introduction to the program and matchings of students with families or mentors, potluck dinners (which allow for sharing of various cultural dishes) scheduled throughout the semester, as well as various group activities.

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” - Pericles