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October 2007 The Faculty, Staff and Student Newspaper of the University of Richmond

International education
Alignment 'extraordinary' as program celebrates 20 years

Patrick Fonzo, South Africa
Patrick Fonzo, '05, with some friends in Cape Town, South Africa.

BY BARBARA FITZGERALD

In August, as the Office of International Education made plans for a three-day November celebration to mark its 20th anniversary, the program propelled the University onto Newsweek magazine’s annual list of the nation’s 25 hottest colleges. The colleges and universities that make the list, the magazine says, are among the country’s most interesting—colleges that are “part of the buzz at education conferences.” Newsweek put Richmond on the list for the first time, calling UR the hottest university in the country for international studies.

A few days later, former trustee and long-time Richmond benefactor Carole Weinstein, W’75, G’77 and H’04, gave the University and the academic world something else to buzz about. She announced a $9 million gift to Richmond’s international education program, to go toward construction of a 40,000-square-foot international center.

Referring to the confluence of the 20th anniversary celebration, the Newsweek article and the announcement of the Carole Weinstein International Center, Weinstein calls it “an alignment of good news and good fortune that is extraordinary.”

Internationalizing the institution

Twenty years ago, Dr. Uliana Gabara took on the role of part-time director of international education in addition to teaching two courses in Russian. At that time, there were about 15 international students on campus.

Bulgarian Students
Bulgarian students enrolled at Richmond dance in costumes of their home country during an international education festival on campus.

“There was no unifying or proactive approach and no attempt to promote Richmond internationally or to integrate the various efforts into the University’s overall educational plan,” says Gabara, now dean and Carole M. Weinstein chair of international education.

Yet, there were people keeping the flame alive. “Not enough has been said about the role so many people on this campus have played in the success of international education,” Gabara says. “It was the ad hoc faculty committee all those years ago that approved the charge for international education; it was a history department determined to re-examine Western Civilization; it was the housing office that found places for international students to live; the staff in the registrar’s and financial aid offices who went beyond their jobs. We could never have gotten from point A to point B had not so many—from dining hall staff to deans, provosts and presidents—said, ‘Yes, we need to do this.’”

One of Gabara’s initial tasks was to implement the international studies major in 1987. She also was charged with creating structures for study abroad and supporting international students. It was a modest beginning, but one with a mission—much like that of today: “Nothing less than internationalizing the institution,” Gabara says.

Twenty years later, international education is ingrained in the University of Richmond experience. For example, the Class of 2007 had a 70 percent participation rate in study abroad.

“Our students are attending some of the best universities in the world,” Gabara says. “They attend classes along with local students at Oxford and in Edinburgh, Prague, Milan, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong and Bangkok, for instance. We have exchange agreements with more than 50 schools around the world.”

Dean Gabara with Sheldon Wettacks
Dean Gabara (r.) with Sheldon Wettack, former dean of arts and sciences. In 1987 Wettack was instrumental in creating the Office of International Education.

Krittika Onsanit, director of international student, scholar and internship services, says she’s amazed at the growth of study abroad and the size and diversity of the international student population on campus. “In fall 2000, there were about 150 students from over 50 countries, and now there are 213 international students from over 70 countries.”

Gabara notes that the study abroad numbers also go up almost annually as students become more aware of the opportunities.

Before enrolling in 2004, Dave Markarian, ’08, had no desire to go abroad. He knew nothing about the University’s extensive and acclaimed study abroad program, and he certainly had no thought that a couple of years later he would be studying Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan.

During his semester abroad, Markarian also visited Macau, Thailand and Cambodia, where he met Khmer Rouge soldiers, visited the Killing Fields and Angkor Wat, and toured the S-21 genocide museum. “My plans in Thailand were derailed,” he says, “when a bus bombing occurred on the route I was planning to take to Phuket.”

Now Markarian plans to return to Taiwan after graduation to pursue a master’s degree and perfect his command of Mandarin Chinese.

Andrea Willis, ’08, says that study abroad “wasn’t a specific motivation for my choosing the University of Richmond, but I knew it would be necessary once I’d declared my Spanish major. It was essential for me not only to study Spanish, but also to go where Spanish isn’t just what they study but how they live.” Willis spent six weeks in Argentina and a semester in Mexico.

Aborad Fair
Students attended a “study abroad fair” at University Forum in September to learn about opportunities around the world.

While a strong majority of undergraduates study abroad, Gabara and her colleagues are not satisfied.

“Regardless of what work our students will do,” says Gabara, “as citizens and professionals, they will need to have global knowledge and experience. Globalization is not a phenomenon that affects only    large companies or people in business, government and the military. It is about all of us, in all walks of life, regardless of where we live and work and who our ancestors were.  . . . People ‘not from here’ contribute to our shared culture, and those contributions are worth acknowledging and cultivating.”

Key components of Richmond’s International Education program

2007 marks the 20th anniversary of international education at University of Richmond. For a complete list of events and venues, most open to all, visit studyabroad.richmond.edu and click on “20th Anniversary Celebration.”