Press Releases

October 2006

Open Letter to HACU from GLS Chairman

October 20th, 2006

Dear HACU friends, associates and academics,

I would first like to thank Dr. Flores and the HACU administration for the kind invitation to join in this select group of academicians and academic administrators from over 400 HACU colleges and universities.

Flying over to the States two days ago, I was thinking on the plane about what we share in common.

Without meeting you personally, it seemed to me that we all share a passion for education and learning, enhancing new knowledge as well as transferring this knowledge through the very process of learning into the minds of our youth, continuing in this manner a process that spans human civilization, from ancient Athens and Rome and probably even earlier to today. 

This realization that we all are actors and participants in this ecumenical transfer of civilization from generation to generation quite often fills my heart with great joy.

A second common element is perhaps our belief that learning takes place both in the classroom as well as outside the classroom. Perhaps, the ideal combination is that of classroom teaching with experiential learning.

It is rather unfortunate that in most universities and for most majors, experiential learning is under-rated.

I am not sure how many of you would trust an inexperienced medical doctor who has gone through a medical school but has never examined a patient.

One cannot assert that practice alone is better or can substitute for academic education. But neither can one say that academic education alone is ideal.

We need both, and the direction in which academic institutions should be moving is to increase experiential learning, whether this is called practicum, internship, work experience or travel experience.

My academic background has been in Business Administration.

In the days when I was a student, it was possible to go through the various levels : Bachelor, Masters and Doctorate, without any practical experience.

Even then, I was feeling this weakness and on my own I visited several sites such as an auto assembly line in Cincinnati, a steel mill in Gary, Indiana and a meat-packing facility also in Indiana.

Walking through an auto assembly facility, which at that time was partly but not totally automated, was an experience that could not be substituted by reading journal articles in the library about assembly lines, automation and the feelings of isolation and monotony.

A third important element is international and intercultural experiences that are gained by living, studying and interacting with other people : students, associates or professionals - from different countries and cultures.

The U.S. itself is an amalgam of people from different ethnic, language and cultural backgrounds who came here and have gradually formed the American culture.

The difference today is that, whereas for many years, the prevalent paradigm was to integrate and homogenize all these different people, perhaps the tendency today is to encourage people of various backgrounds to live together as responsible citizens of one nation while maintaining their unique characteristics.

The Hispanic Americans represent such an important group but so do the Chinese, the Italians, the Greeks etc. Thus, the U.S.A. today is a colorful mosaic rather than a uniform blend of people.

We all live in a world that is rapidly getting closer together even though people may be miles apart. Advances in air transportation, the globalization of business and of the mass media of communication as well as the Internet and information technology in general seem to connect people easier and closer.

What is lacking, however, are those personal contacts and relationships that form a much better understanding of “the other”, as sociologists say.

On the other side of the Atlantic, 25 European nations with about an equal number of languages and various ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds are gradually forging what may be the United States of Europe. This is not an easy task with language being the predominant problem.

Personally, I remember the days when to go from one European country to another, one had to go through immigration and customs control and change currency at the border.

It is a different feeling today as one moves from one country to another within the Schengen area without any border restrictions and use the same currency : the Euro.

For somebody who has lived in the U.S.A., this is not an unusual feeling because this is basically what happens as one crosses from one state to another and continues using the U.S. dollar.

But, in Europe, it is a different feeling because a world war was fought there more than 60 years ago between nations and people that today work together for peace.

One should not ignore that the first European agreement was signed  in 1951, only 6 years after the end of the second world war.

This was achieved by visionaries such as Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman who could see beyond everybody else.

The world faces similar challenges today, perhaps not a world war but several smaller wars. Some people also talk about clashes of civilizations.

This is the dark side of the world. On the bright side, we see many different people working together, traveling together and living next to each other.

Just from my own personal experience this week, while I visited the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany, every single person I talked to during my visit there was from a different country.

Also, on the Lufthansa plane from Frankfurt, there were many Russians, most of them with a German passport coming to the U.S.
My thought on the plane was that this would not have been possible 30 or 40 years ago.

At this very critical point of time, we need to give to the youth of today and the future generation of tomorrow, qualifications and learning experiences that will make them better citizens not only of the country but also of the world in which they will live.

This can be done even in the short period of one semester or a summer session by encouraging them to study, live and travel abroad and share experiences that will stay with them forever.

The benefits are not only intrinsic for the individuals themselves but are also helpful for their careers and the world in which they will live and prosper.

I have no doubt that the best business executives, the best teachers, the best scientists and the best artists and creators of today and tomorrow, will be individuals who have broadened their horizon by studying, living and traveling abroad.

Furthermore, this opportunity should not be made available only to the affluent and the privileged.

We should all work together to make the study abroad opportunities available and accessible to everybody - the privileged and the under-privileged, the rich and the poor, the very bright and the not-so bright.

We need to put in practice “equal opportunity for all our youth”.

May God help us achieve this noble goal.

Thank you so much for your support.

Dr. Andreas Polemitis
Chairman
Global Learning Semesters, Inc.