UM Students to Join South African Peers for Leadership Exchange Program
June 12, 2007
OXFORD, Miss. - Ten University of Mississippi students join 10 of their peers from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, June 16 to July 17, for a cultural exchange aimed at promoting a better understanding of the world.
The two groups merge for the Trent Lott Leadership Institute's Young Leaders International Exchange Program, gathering first on the Ole Miss campus for orientation, discussions and lectures on the current political, economic and social situation in the world.
They then embark on a two-and-a-half-week excursion across the South, stopping at presidential libraries and industrial centers before arriving in Washington, D.C., to visit key points of interest. From there, they travel to South Africa for the rest of the five-week cultural exchange.
"Bringing students from other parts of the world to interact with our students at Ole Miss provides a tremendous learning opportunity," said Chancellor Robert Khayat. "Then to have our students travel abroad to raise their awareness of global issues will certainly help prepare them to become tomorrow's world leaders."
Organized around the themes of civic globalization and multiculturalism, the program is intended to establish lifelong relationships, which are expected to enhance the students' understanding of the world, said Bill Gottshall, executive director of the Lott Institute.
"Similar trips are organized by the partner institutions in their own country," Gottshall said. "The tour in South Africa includes a visit to the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre. By making visits to key cultural, political and industrial centers, it is our hope to create more rounded leaders in the future."
Lott Institute scholars participating in the program are Chad Armstrong of Hattiesburg, Aubrey Beckham of Greenwood, Carmen Musgrove of Brandon and Artair Rogers of Guntown. Joining them are Tyler Craft of Laurel, Katie Jackson of Hazlehurst, Elizabeth Joseph of Clinton, Margaret Long of Indianola, Cara Troiani of Jackson and Mary-Crosby Turner of Jackson.
The students expressed different feelings about traveling overseas. "To be honest, I am a little nervous," said Turner.
To make it easier, Turner and the other participants have received valuable advice from her older sister, Raney-Mills Turner. The elder Turner, a UM graduate and an adviser in the university's Study Abroad program, has traveled to South Africa on three previous study trips.
"Raney-Mills has told me to just relax, enjoy and take it all in," Mary-Crosby said. "I'm so fortunate to have this opportunity and cannot wait to make the most of it."
As South Africa emerges from the international isolation of the apartheid era, the country faces many obstacles that parallel those of the southeastern United States. UM Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College professor Kenneth Townsend said that he hopes students will think critically about the lessons learned as Mississippi and South Africa both seek racial reconciliation.
"Both Mississippi and South Africa have experienced rather painful and complicated racial troubles, but the two have taken different routes in dealing with past injustice," said Townsend. "Through this trip, the students will have a rare hands-on opportunity to reflect on these important concerns."
Raney-Mills believes the global journey will provide each student with a new perspective on race. "It's inevitable," she said. "Since the Mississippi students are actually living with South African students, they will not be able to avoid the fresh reality that it is a small world after all, and that their new friends who live across the planet lead similar lives to their own."
Hearing her older sister's extraordinary stories about the people, culture and scenery of South Africa, Mary-Crosby thinks the experience will teach her more than a classroom course.
"I would love to come back to Mississippi and have an altered outlook and possibly an even greater appreciation for my upbringing, the South and America in general," Mary-Crosby said. "Deep down, I'm positive the trip will help me grow spiritually and personally."
"Traveling for work is always special, but I am a bit more excited about this trip," said Raney-Mills. "Traveling with my little sister to South Africa and actually observing her experience firsthand makes it even more special. This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for both of us."
For more information about the Lott Leadership Institute and International Programs, visit
http://www.lottinst.olemiss.edu/
by Tobie Baker
Newsdesk Story #6243 |
