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June 2008
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President's Column
 A Legacy of Service
Dear Friends of
Austin College,
As we come to the
end of another academic year, it is gratifying to celebrate the
success of another senior class. Headed off to graduate or
professional schools, or to that first job, I am confident that the
Class of 2008 will be living ambassadors of our focus on
values-based learning.
To encourage them
on their way, this year’s seniors were offered inspiring challenges
by the Honorable Antonio O. Garza, Jr., and student speaker Davy
Axel Nze Akoue, both of whom represent the global emphasis of Austin
College. Mr. Garza, a native Texan, is the U.S. Ambassador to
Mexico, and Axel, as he is known by his friends, came to Austin
College from Gabon, in west central Africa. The predominant theme in
both presentations was the concept of service, a subject that fell
on sympathetic ears.
Ambassador Garza
stressed that success follows from openness, honesty, and goodness,
values that are best complemented by compassion, tenderness, and
forgiveness. Right and wrong will constantly compete for your
attention, he stressed to the seniors, and you have to be careful
which hunger you feed. Service to others, in small ways and large,
is gratifying beyond measure, he emphasized, and will be your
greatest success in life.
By contrast, our
student speaker noted that the concept of “service” was not a part
of the culture of his native country of Gabon, since mere survival
made focus on others challenging, to say the least. It represented a
moment of pride to realize that Axel’s fellow students and
professors at Austin College helped impart the importance of service
as a natural expression of our campus community. At the same time,
it also highlighted the challenge that remains for us all to create
the conditions by which service can thrive in places like Gabon.
More on that in a moment.
To commemorate
his career at Austin College, Axel worked with his fellow seniors to
leave a lasting mark on the institution by creating an endowed
scholarship to support future generations of international students.
With the help of the Senior Committee, Axel reached his goal
successfully. At the end of his Commencement address, I was honored
to receive from Axel, on behalf of his classmates, a gift of
$51,000, which will establish the Class of 2008 Endowed Scholarship
for International Students. This effort was aided by an alumnus of
Austin College who gave the seniors a challenge gift to encourage
reaching their original goal of $50,000.
Axel and the
senior class are to be commended for their leadership and service.
They have established a legacy that will be remembered for years to
come.
On this note, I
am pleased to say that the theme of service continues to be strong
on the Austin College campus through an exciting new opportunity
that allows students to combine their focus on service and
internationalism.
This year saw the
development of the Global Outreach, or GO, Fellowship Program,
funded by the Todd and Abby Williams Family Foundation. Ten to 15
fellowships will be available each year, making it possible for
students to travel to underdeveloped areas of the world and work in
non-profit sectors.
Monica Martinez
’09,
president of the Student Assembly, is one of the GO Fellowship
recipients, and she will spend her summer in Nigeria working in an
orphanage. Nine other GO Fellowship students will travel to
Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Pakistan, Peru, and Russia, undertaking
such varied challenges as providing healthcare for young girls,
teaching English, distributing medical supplies, and teaching job
skills and career development to orphans. Be assured that we will
share their stories with you in the months to come. |
