LSU’s College of the Coast & Environment celebrated culture, community and Thanksgiving Wednesday with an international potluck.

The feast was the college’s third annual International Thanksgiving event. Students, faculty and staff were encouraged to bring a dish from their home country to share.

“We all want to be somewhere where we feel community,” said Sibel Bargu Ates, the interim dean of LSU’s Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate School.

Ates said the event aims to engage with students from anywhere, especially since LSU is so culturally rich. Culture was certainly on the table — three tables to be exact.

One room in the Energy, Coast and Environment building was solely dedicated to food. Three long tables lined the walls in a horseshoe layout. Members formed a single-file line and began filling up their plates.

It started with appetizers and sides, which included dishes like Mediterranean cornbread, Turkish green beans and samosas. Main course options ranged from classic American turkey with cranberry sauce to African Jollof and chicken biryani.

No meal could be finished without desserts. Southern bread pudding and apple pie were accompanied by Brazilian truffles and Italian sweet bread. Pans of food were quickly emptied as people moved on to mingle.

In a separate room, tables were placed for people to eat and talk. A garland made from different country’s flags surrounded the room while quiet music played.

While most students came for the food, Adriana Dimas came to share hers. She said she wanted to come so she could make a load of sourdough bread to bring.

Dimas, a fourth-year doctoral student, said this meal was her only plan for Thanksgiving this year. She said the event was a nice break in-between classes to talk to people she does not get to see everyday.

Originally from Honduras, Dimas put her home country on the map — literally. Students were able to put a star sticker on one of three maps displayed: a world map, a United States map, and a Louisiana map.

The picture was clear; the college brought people from all over the world together. From Nigeria to Brazil, Rhode Island to California and even right here in Baton Rouge, students left their mark.

This community is why Allen Barchak decided to come. Barchak, a coastal environmental science junior, said it gave him the chance to know those he has been working with better.

“I love the sense of community everybody has with one another,” Barchak said.

Hanging out with other members is not something that happens every day. Research associate Monique Boudreaux said being heavily involved in research means being stuck in labs.

She said it is good for the department to come together while also showcasing each other’s cultures. Boudreaux is half Brazilian and made coconut and chocolate brigadeiros, a traditional Brazilian truffle to share.

Along with eating, members could choose between playing Jenga, UNO or cards at the game table. LSU Study Abroad also set up a table to inform students of upcoming programs.

One activity got everyone involved. A colorful, star shaped piñata was hung between a door frame ready to be smashed. One by one, students got three swings to break the candy out.

Eagerly, students went back to the food room to grab what they could before it was all gone. What was left was a lingering feeling of community and collaboration.

“It makes me feel really valued as a member of the college,” Barchak said.