These are excerpts taken from remarks delivered by Kalamazoo College President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran on Thursday, October 23, 2008, in Stetson Chapel at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Mich., to students, faculty, staff, alumni, and honored guests of the College, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Kalamazoo College Study Abroad program.
President B. Wilson-Oyelaran
The second question is nearly always, “Where did you go on study abroad?” Not “What was your major? Which dorm did you live in? Who was your favorite professor? Did you play sports? Did you streak the Quad?”
No. K alumni want to know: “Where did you go on study abroad?”
It’s not surprising. Because for most “K” alumni, study abroad is the signature element of their K-Plan. The most memorable—and the most transformative—experience they have while enrolled at the College.
Tonight, throughout this weekend, and the current academic year, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the inception this remarkable program.
In June 1958, 25 students set sail on the Arosa Star out of Montreal bound for eight weeks of study in Caen, France; Madrid, Spain; and Bonn, Germany. With them was a young English professor named Richard Stavig. Their trip was made possible by the visionary leadership of College officials and the critical financial support from the family of Richard J. Light, who chaired the Kalamazoo College board of Trustees for many years.
Since that time, some 10,000 Kalamazoo College students have ventured out from this city in the Midwest to discover the world. Each one of these students has been the beneficiary of financial support of generous donors such as the Light Trust, Arcus Foundation, Beeler Estate, and Mac Gregor Fund, along with so many others who helped sustain and enhance this wonderful program. And each of these students has returned to Kalamazoo College with a more nuanced understanding of the world, a deeper appreciation of international affairs and a readiness to become at home in the world.
During this half century, many colleges and universities have discovered study abroad. We have had many imitators, but few peers. Kalamazoo College remains the goal standard when it comes to study abroad? Why is this?
Experience and expertise: We have engaged in education abroad for 50 years and during this period we have continued to refine and restructure our programs to maximize students’ opportunities for deep learning and personal development.
Innovation: Programs like the Kalamazoo Project for Intercultural Communication and the special seminars and minors called for in the new strategic plan help make the “K” study abroad experience a farther, and more rewarding, journey.
Variety: What began as a summer study program for a few students in three programs at Caen, Bonn, and Madrid has grown to 50 programs in 25 countries on six continents, programs that are available for all students.
Participation: 85 percent of our students take the leap.
Immersion: Our students study abroad for three, six, nine months or longer and they are deeply immersed in the culture and the community. The vast majority stay with families. In addition, many complete an Integrative Cultural Research Project. The ICRP can take a number of shapes. Many are small field studies based on service and volunteer activities. Others involve participation in a local cultural activity. In some, students collect life histories of a group of individuals. Whatever their particular nature, all ICRPs more fully integrate students into the daily life of the countries in which they are studying and increase the opportunities to use the local language outside of the classroom.
Our Study Abroad program could not have reached this level of national recognition and distinction without the vision and dedication of some very special people. And I would like to recognize them. Would the former and current study abroad program directors who are with us for this special celebration tonight please stand.
These individuals will be recognized tomorrow at a special convocation at 11am in Stetson Chapel. You are all invited.
And would our Study Abroad Directors Emeritus—Dr. Joe Fugate and Dr. Richard Stavig—please stand.
Dr. Stavig, by the way, was the only non-student on the Arosa Star back in June 1958. In 1986, he wrote about that experience, and I quote:
“Wonder of wonders, a thirty-year-old untenured assistant professor of English who had been at Kalamazoo College only three years, who had never been to Europe, and whose oral language skills were minimal was selected to take the group over and give them—what else could he give them?—minimal supervision. Because I had just received a Fulbright to teach at Heidelberg and was going anyway, I suppose they thought they could get me cheap. They did. In any case, by June plans had been carefully made, but there was simply a lot we just didn’t know. We did know, however, that we were involved in a great adventure, an adventure that had tremendous implications for us and our college.”
It is fitting that we celebrate this anniversary with another great adventurer as our honored guest speaker—Dr. Josephine K. Olsen, deputy director of the Peace Corps. It is appropriate that Dr. Olsen celebrate with us tonight and tomorrow, for there is a strong connection between the Peace Corps and our study abroad program. In fact, Kalamazoo College is a significant source of Peace Corps Volunteers. Per capita, among colleges and universities, we rank near the top, sometimes leading the nation, in the number of students who join the Peace Corps. I have no doubt that the commitment to international cooperation espoused by the Peace Corps and so widely shared among Kalamazoo students, finds its origins in one of Kalamazoo College’s most important signature experiences: study abroad.
-- Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran, President Kalamazoo College (Oct. 23, 2008)
