Austin
College’s phenomenal study abroad rate has been one of higher
education’s better kept secrets for some time, but it’s rewarding when
the rest of the world is let in on our success.
As part of its Open
Doors Report on International Education Exchange, the Institute for
International Education (IIE) honored Austin College this past year as
the top college for undergraduate participation in study abroad. This
ranks us higher than such prestigious institutions as Colby, Lewis &
Clark, Davidson, and Colorado College — all included in the IIE’s top
twenty.
The statistical
ranking reflects the approximately 70 percent of our graduates
annually who have had a study experience of one month or more outside
the United States during their four years at Austin College. This year
alone, we have students studying in places like Greece, Turkey,
Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Chile, Japan, Costa Rica, and China. Even
more, this travel often represents the first experience many of our
students have with a culture outside the United States.
Global understanding
is embedded in the mission of Austin College, and our success with
study abroad complements the academic curiosity and service
orientation of our students, since many of our students combine their
academic experiences with service projects throughout the world.
For instance, Austin
College students were some of the first in the nation to participate
in Operation Crossroads Africa. Since that time, numerous students
have participated in internships, the Peace Corps, and
independent-study opportunities. Recently, senior Will Radke,
supported by a large number of students on campus, created a
microfinance program to benefit West Africa through Tostan, an
organization devoted, as its mission explains, “to empowering African
communities to bring about sustainable development and positive social
transformation based on respect for human rights.”
As a result of Will’s
interest in microfinance, as well as in finding ways to help
third-world countries, three villages in the West African nation of
Senegal will have the financial support they need to begin
self-sustaining projects. Will shared this project with the campus
community in October as the final presentation in an Africa symposium
that exposed Austin College students to a wide range of issues faced
by this continent.
Importantly, this
kind of individual initiative is usually the result of earlier
projects students encounter in our unique curriculum, particularly our
Jan Term, through which many faculty design courses to take students
to various parts of the world. Hungry for more, many Austin College
students use the Jan Term as the jumping-off point for a more in-depth
study of another culture by spending a semester or a year abroad.
In recent years,
individual students have designed independent-study programs that
involved assisting in an orphanage in Vietnam, teaching English in
Ghana, or working in health service programs in Ecuador. Many of these
students expand their interests by performing internships in
non-profits throughout the world. These endeavors have had great
support through the Lilly Endowment’s Theological Exploration of
Vocation program. Many elements of the Lilly Project now are being
continued through a new program established by a member of the Board
of Trustees in the summer of 2007 to underwrite a global fellowship
program for students participating in summer internships in non-profit
organizations throughout the world.
What this global
emphasis demonstrates is clear: Austin College is truly a crossroads.
While our talented
faculty attracts a diverse group of students to our beautiful campus
in Sherman, Texas, we are equally proud of the fact that we then send
our students out to the far corners of the globe. In the process, they
act as positive ambassadors for the Austin College tradition of
learning as a means to develop leadership and impart lasting values.