President's Column
 Circling the Globe
Dear Friends of Austin College,
When students returned to campus
this fall, I began immediately to hear stories of summer
experiences. With the start of the Global Outreach (or GO) program and the continuation of the
Lilly Vocational Internship Program, 63 students participated in
these two programs in experiential learning experiences that were
nothing short of life-changing.
The 10 GO Fellows worked with
non-profit groups around the globe — five in Africa, two in Peru,
and one each in Russia, Pakistan, and Guatemala.
Created with a grant from the
Todd and Abby Williams Family Foundation of Dallas, the GO program
aims to cultivate the next generation of local, national, and global
leaders by promoting innovative, experiential servant leadership
opportunities around the world.
As a GO fellow, Holly Boerner
’09 worked this summer at the Adana Children’s Center, an
orphanage in Debre Zeyit, Ethiopia, 45 minutes from that nation’s
capital, Addis Ababa. This was Holly’s third visit to Ethiopia as an
Austin College student. The first two trips, Holly was at the
Kamashi Orphanage and School, which serves the area of
Benishangul-Gumuzone, one of Ethiopia’s poorest regions, where there
are an estimated 40,000 orphans. By working in these communities,
Holly deepened her cultural perspective of a part of the world where few students travel. She
also met successfully the challenge to view the world from a global
perspective—and from a servant leader’s heart.
The Lilly Vocational Internship
Program provides support for a wide range of internships throughout
the world, but most take place in the United States. As I visited
with one Lilly intern, Casie Luong ’10, I realized what a
great impact this type of program can have on the life of one
person. Casie is the daughter of parents who fled from Vietnam
during the war, and this summer Casie went to her parents’ home
country to work in a children’s shelter in Ho Chi Minh City.
Casie’s experience at the Little
Rose Shelter provided her the opportunity to share her gifts with
children who had suffered abuse and to contribute positively to her family’s cultural home. The
shelter was established in 1992 in response to growing incidents of
human trafficking in Vietnam. Since its founding, Little Rose has
provided a safe shelter to hundreds of young girls and continues to
help them build a positive future.
Casie taught English and music,
among other subjects, at Little Rose, and while doing this she had
the opportunity to meet relatives she had only heard about. Her
parents returned to Vietnam this summer for the first time since
their departure decades ago, and they were able to witness their
daughter’s servant leadership in action.
Austin College always has
encouraged students to step outside their comfort zone to serve, and
today’s students are no different. These are just two examples of
the College’s commitment to global understanding for all students
who desire to participate in international experiences. Ten
additional students participated in life-changing internships through
our centers for Environmental Studies and for Southwestern and
Mexican Studies, as well as our Career Study Off-Campus program.
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