Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks, right, gestures Wednesday while speaking to a group of students from Mumbai, India, at McCandless Hall on the campus of Athens State University. The mayor urged the students to embrace technology, but to use it for their education.

A pouring rain Wednesday didn’t dampen the spirits of more than a dozen visitors from Mumbai, India, who visited Athens State University as part of tour of Huntsville and Athens.

The tour has become an annual tradition over the last several years, although as many as 50 to 60 students typically make the trip. Complications with visas this year resulted in fewer students being able to come, according to Dr. Chintan Tijoriwala, an educator and coach with Edu Sails.

Edu Sails is the group that organized the two-week tour of the U.S., which also includes visits to Orlando, Atlanta, New York City, Washington and Huntsville. Teresa Todd, director of the Athens-Limestone Tourism Association, works with the group to arrange the visits to Athens.

The Indian students were formally welcomed by Dr. Ronald Ingle, interim president of Athens State University. He explained to the students Athens State is just shy of 200 years old, which is much younger than many schools and universities in India.

Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks, who has talked with the students since they first came to Athens in 2015, explained his position is non-partisan.

“The great thing about that is I can try to resolve an issue without determining if I line up on this side or that side,” he said. “That should not be about what we’re about. We should be about, ‘How do we form a world that’s good for all of us.’”

The mayor asked the students their ages and what subjects they were interested in. He explained he had degrees in biology and chemistry, but he “wound up as mayor.”

“It’s good and we have a lot of fun,” he told the students.

The mayor told students to embrace technology like smartphones, but urged them to use it wisely.

“(Smartphones) allow you to get on social media and, particularly in America, say ugly statements about other people, and I don’t particularly like that,” he told them. “Use these devices for your education.”

Tijoriwala urged the students to ask Marks questions about his role in the community and about the processes he oversees. He remarked India also has mayors and asked the students what they did. One student replied “Nothing,” which made Marks laugh.