An unfrequented room atop the Memorial Union stairs at Oregon State University may be just the place for international students to find community and a place to decompress. 

The ASOSU International Lounge is piloting this year in MU room 115, just left of the MU main lounge. ASOSU President Mateo Paola said he hopes this center can provide not only a place for international students to feel at home, but also a place for them to share their experiences with other students. 

The lounge originally existed in the Student Experience Center, but has since been moved, following a reallocation of funding through ASOSU. 

Paola made room for the lounge — paired with a disabled students lounge — on the yearly funding docket, after hearing that international students needed a safe place, especially given turmoil in Iran and Ukraine that impact many students at OSU. 

Following a lengthy process for the lounge to be approved, ASOSU officials signed off on the center. The hope is to hire student staff in the lounge and to eventually host events geared towards the needs and wants of international students on campus. 

“If those students from that community are wanting to see something then they should be bringing it to us so that we can take note of that,” Paola said. “As this expands, we will make sure that we’re including that.”

The lounge will have an official open house Nov. 16 from 10:30 a.m. from 1 p.m. in MU room 115.