Tougaloo College is providing students with another way to become global leaders. In the spirit of global impact, President Beverly Wade Hogan visited Barcelona, Spain last month as part of a new partnership that will provide free passports to 75 Tougaloo College students. Hogan was among nine college and university presidents from the United States invited to participate in the Presidential Leadership Workshop hosted by the Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE) and the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI).
“I am honored to have been invited. It was a great opportunity to connect Tougaloo College to the CEII/CMSI Partnership, which offers valuable opportunities for our students and faculty to participate in international education experiences. We want to expose our students to global learning experiences that will better prepare them for broad functionality in a changing, interconnected global world,” said Hogan.
The workshop focused on Project Passport, a three-year strategic partnership intended to increase study abroad programs among minority serving institutions, like Tougaloo College. Because of this partnership with Tougaloo College’s Center for International Studies and Global Change, faculty and students have additional opportunities for global advancement. Faculty may participate in the Presidential Elevate Faculty Fellowship that provides faculty with off-campus professional development opportunities. Students may apply for one of two Frederick Douglass Global Fellowships, which include a study abroad experience for the selected applicants. All qualified applicants who apply will be awarded $1500 regardless of acceptance outcome. President Hogan says she has already nominated students for the Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship and her students are excited about the free passports they will receive.
“International education is an important component of the educational experience for students to overcome barriers, bridge cultures, understand languages and unite people,” said Hogan.
Project Passport is one of the many ways students may experience other cultures on campus, as well as abroad. In addition to existing study abroad and cultural immersion programs through the Center for International Studies and Global Change, the College offers students the opportunity to take Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Korean and Arabic foreign language classes. Every year, for over ten years, a new group of international language scholars arrive on the campus of Tougaloo College to teach and be taught. Although the teachers educate students about their language and culture, the teachers learn about US culture by living on campus, as well as taking college courses.
“The four international language scholars come to us as instructors of critical languages to provide understanding of culture. They are cultural ambassadors,” said Dean of Humanities, Dr. Andrea Montgomery.
The Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) Program provides Arabic-speaking teachers for the College, while the ALLEX Foundation provides Japanese, Korean and Mandarin Chinese language teachers.
