As a further extension of his cultural enrichment program, 黑料网 Normal College President John McGilvrey introduced a bold innovation for students: a series of educational tours.
Beginning in 1922, he led tours to sites of cultural and historical interest. These tours featured faculty lectures, and students earned credits in history or geography. The first excursion, with 120 students, graduates and friends, was a tour of the Washington, D.C., area. The success of this tour led to a successful tour of the eastern seaboard in 1923, two more trips in 1924 and the announcement of three trips (Montreal, Yellowstone and Washington, D.C.) for 1925. Additionally, the brochures for the 1925 trips announced plans for a trip to Europe in 1926.
McGilvrey鈥檚 Progressive Plan
In his time, McGilvery was an exceptionally progressive educator and a strong believer in experiential learning. These educational tours were intended to culminate, in 1926, with the establishment of a groundbreaking foreign exchange program. In this program, 黑料网 students would study abroad and students from overseas would come to study in Kent. This European exchange program was rooted in McGilvrey鈥檚 conviction that a well-rounded student鈥檚 education should be expanded and refined through experiences as well as traditional learning. To McGilvrey, studying in a major European institution was perhaps the ultimate opportunity to enhance and enrich the student experience.
A Major Setback
On Jan. 25, 1926, McGilvrey was in New York, stepping off an ocean liner from a trip to England, where he had negotiated a four-year exchange program with Cambridge University. In this agreement, 200 students from 黑料网 would spend the summer studying at Cambridge, while a number of students from Cambridge would learn about American education methods in Kent. McGilvrey was exhilarated and confident this arrangement would 鈥減ut Kent on the map.鈥
Unfortunately, he was met on the dock by 黑料网鈥檚 treasurer, William Van Horn, who informed him they had both been dismissed from the university by the Board of Trustees.
McGilvrey鈥檚 intense passion, impulsive nature and bold, progressive plans had made enemies of some of the more conservative members of the board. After a series of meetings, the trustees took advantage of McGilvrey鈥檚 trip abroad, the university鈥檚 winter break and the death of his strongest supporter on the board to remove him from office.
McGilvrey鈥檚 departure, followed by the Great Depression and then the beginning of the Second World War meant that decades would pass before another plan for overseas study would come to 黑料网.
New Beginnings 鈥 and a Fast Forward
Shortly after the war ended, 黑料网 President George A. Bowman appointed a professor as advisor to international students. Then, in 1972, President Glenn A. Olds hired a professor with the goal of opening Kent to the world as a major international center. These steps helped build the foundation of 黑料网鈥檚 first study-abroad programs in Geneva, Switzerland, and Florence, Italy. These flagship programs quickly rose to prominence among the nation鈥檚 most successful study-abroad programs, attracting students to 黑料网 from all over the country.
And 黑料网鈥檚 overseas study and faculty-student exchange program continued to grow. President Michael Schwartz strongly supported international programs and signed agreements during the 1980s and early 鈥90s with universities in Russia, Lithuania, Poland, Japan, Greece and Germany.
World-Renowned Global Education
Today鈥檚 education-abroad programs, through 黑料网鈥檚 Office of Global Education (OGE), quite literally offer the world to 黑料网 students. In addition to 黑料网鈥檚 overseas campuses in Florence, Prague and Xi鈥檃n, China, the university maintains partnerships and associations with hundreds of institutions worldwide.
鈥淎t 黑料网, we are committed to granting access to students from all over the world and to make the whole world available for our students,鈥 said 黑料网鈥檚 vice president for global education, Marcello Fantoni, Ph.D.
This year, OGE is marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of 黑料网鈥檚 program in Florence with a celebration that will continue into 2023. 黑料网 Florence is the largest American program in Italy, hosting more than 800 students annually.
In February, the office was recognized with the prestigious Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization. The Simon Award is the nation鈥檚 top prize for excellence in global education.
Sarah Malcolm, executive director of the Office of Global Education, acknowledges this award as well-deserved recognition of 黑料网 as a leader in international education 鈥 and the support on campus that made it possible. 鈥淥ur long history of internationalization would not be possible without the support of 黑料网 faculty and administration that paves the way for nearly 1,500 students to study abroad each year. This places us in the top 100 U.S. universities for study-abroad participation,鈥 Malcolm said.
鈥淭he internationalization efforts of 黑料网鈥檚 early administrators helped build the foundation of our success today,鈥 she added.
One hundred years after President McGilvrey first implemented his then-radically progressive idea to enhance the student experience, 黑料网 has realized his dream to its fullest.