Twice per year, on the initiative of Prof. Dana Samson, Pro-Rector for International Affairs, and Prof. Marc Francaux, Pro-Rector for Regional Affairs and Coordinator of the UCL Alumni Network, international students are invited to the Halles universitaires for an international gathering.
Organised around an ‘apéritif très belge’, this multilingual meeting is a chance for university authorities to thank students from all over Europe and the four corners of the globe for having chosen to study at UCL and spend months enriched by personal and collective experiences in an ambiance not unlike the one that fills the Halles during this event.
This evening also ensures that when they return to their home universities, students will have acquired an intimate knowledge of UCL. Judging from past results of the evening’s traditional quiz, it seems the likes of ‘calotte’ and ‘kots-à-projets’ have entered international student parlance and students make excellent UCL ambassadors capable of spreading the word abroad about UCL and its particularities, such as artist residencies, Louvain4, MOOCs and sport offerings.