Betty Grimwood Thanksgiving Program

The international students and scholars who sign up may come from any of the 100+ different countries represented at the University of Kansas. Participants can be of any nationality or age. Occasionally, a married couple or family will choose to participate. Most students have no difficulty with the English language, however, there may be a few participants who have a more limited vocabulary.

Almost all international students and scholars come to the United States with the hope of experiencing different aspects of American life and are eager to share their own culture. This program provides an excellent opportunity for participants to view life from a non-university setting and serve as “ambassadors” for their own cultures and customs. In addition, the Thanksgiving break is often too short to travel home. This gives them the opportunity to feel welcome in a U.S. home during the holiday. 

• International Support Services advertises the program in various campus and community media.
• Interested families and students complete a questionnaire to sign up for the program. In addition, we ask all participating parties to complete a waiver as part of the application process, as required by KU policy. 
• As much as possible, we then try to match families and students with similar accommodation requests and interests.
• You will receive a matching email with information about your student(s) or scholar(s) 1-2 weeks before Thanksgiving.
• Once matched, we ask the students to call or email you to introduce themselves. Then, we ask that you and your students coordinate with each other to finalize expected arrival times and locations. We encourage you to be up front about your plans for the day(s) so the students feel comfortable and know what to expect!
• Families should expect to provide transportation for the student(s). Many international students do not have cars.

We hope that you are interested in the Homestay Program and would like to host a student or scholar! If so, please click the button above to fill out the application.
 

We hear about a variety of fun activities from host families! In the past several years, here are some things hosts have shared with us:

• Make gingerbread houses together
• Play board games or outdoor games
• Tour their farm
• Go for a boat ride on a local lake
• Attend a KU Football game together

No matter what you do, we encourage you to share your family's holiday traditions with your participants!

2026 Host Family Waiver

If you have filled out the online application, please download, sign and email a copy of the waiver to issprograms@ku.edu to consider your application complete.

• International Support Services advertises the program in various campus and community media.
• Interested families and students complete a questionnaire to sign up for the program. In addition, we ask all participating parties to complete a waiver as part of the application process, as required by KU policy.
• As much as possible, we then try to match families and students with similar accommodation requests and interests. However, we cannot guarantee all preferences will be met.
• You will receive a matching email with general information about your host family 1-2 weeks before Thanksgiving.
• Once matched, we ask that you call or email your family to introduce yourself. Then, we ask that you and your family coordinate with each other to finalize expected arrival times and locations. 
• We tell families that they should expect to provide transportation for you. However, if for some reason, that isn't possible, we will inform you in your matching email. 

Host families are members of the KU, Lawrence or surrounding communities (Baldwin City, Kansas City, etc.). Many families are current or former KU employees or alumni. Most families have hosted international students and scholars for several years through this program, however, some may be new to the experience!

This experience is free to all international students and scholars from KU. However, we do charge a refundable $25.00 deposit to make sure that those who sign up do participate. All participants who attend dinner as expected will receive a full refund of the $25.00 deposit. 

The families who volunteer to host often spend a lot of time, money, and energy preparing the meal and get excited about sharing their home. We want to make sure that the students who sign up do participate, and we don't disappoint our volunteer hosts.

However, we understand that things may come up - if an emergency occurs after you have been matched with your hosts and you cannot attend, please contact ISS at issprograms@ku.edu. Depending on the circumstances and how much advance notice you are able to provide, you may receive a refund. Otherwise, you forfeit your deposit.

We work hard to place our students with hosts who can accommodate dietary restrictions and ask questions about this on the sign up form for both hosts and students so we can make accurate matches as best as possible. 

However, all hosts participate on a volunteer basis and may be preparing a very traditional Thanksgiving meal for their extended family and friends, in addition to hosting. To help you have an enjoyable and successful experience, we encourage you to:

• Submit your dietary restrictions on the sign up form.
• Share any concerns or preferences with your hosts when you introduce yourself.
• On Thanksgiving, ask your hosts about what is in each dish. They will work hard to provide you with a good meal that fits your needs, however, there may be many dishes and/or they may forget.

Hosts will often pick participants up in the morning or early afternoon on Thanksgiving day, and return participants in the evening.

You should plan to keep all of Thanksgiving Day free. Once you are matched, it is the responsibility of the you and the hosts to communicate with each other about the details of arrival and departure times. 

Note: Some hosts may be celebrating on a different day. In the sign-up form, we will ask your preference and availability, then try to match accordingly. Additionally, some hosts live outside of Lawrence, so there could be minor travel involved, which may result in a longer day.

Homestay option: Some hosts live further away and/or are interested in hosting students for a multi-day stay. If you are open or interested in seeing more of Kansas and building a deeper connection with your hosts, please indicate on the form that you are interested in the homestay option.

Yes! Many of our host families have children and grandchildren who may be present. They often welcome the spouses and children of our international students and scholars. Please indicate how many dependents you have on the sign up form so we can match accordingly. 

Note: you only need to submit one deposit of $25.00 for your family.

Yes! If you would like the same host as another international student friend or roommate, please mention that you would like to be placed together when you complete the sign up form. You both must submit the form and submit a deposit and waiver. We will do our best to accommodate this request, although it may not always be possible depending on the number of participants and hosts.

2026 Student & Scholar Waiver

Please download, sign and upload a copy of the waiver as part of your application process.