While classes paused on campus for spring break, IU President Pamela Whitten and our Global Gateway Network staff were hard at work affirming connections throughout Latin America. IU Mexico Gateway Director Molly Fisher shares the story.
The IU Mexico Gateway, located in Mexico City, allows IU faculty and students to immerse themselves in academic activities and partnerships across Latin America and the Caribbean. Our small but mighty Gateway team, part of IU Global, is passionate about higher education and providing opportunities for our constituents at IU and abroad. We are dedicated to helping link students, faculty, staff, local institutional partners, and alumni with Indiana University. We are uniquely positioned to increase the visibility and impact of IU’s academic and research activities throughout the region from our home base on the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) campus in central Mexico City.
We were honored to receive President Pamela Whitten this spring break as part of our first delegation since the pandemic. She was accompanied by a few of our colleagues at IU Global, including Vice President for International Affairs Hannah Buxbaum, Associate Vice President for International Affairs Shawn Reynolds, and College of Arts + Sciences Professor and Mexico Gateway Academic Director J. César Félix-Brasdefer. Their visit was President Whitten’s first chance to meet with our local staff and alumni along with many key stakeholders and partners in Mexico. She was able to experience the vital relationships our Global Gateway office cultivates first-hand and see how they affect greater student success, research, and collaboration between our neighboring countries.
The trip began with a warm welcome from our IU Alumni Chapter in Mexico with more than 20 alumni from diverse academic backgrounds. These incredible networks around the world provide so much key support to our university in terms of connections, recruitment, financial support, and community. No matter where you hail from, once a Hoosier, always a Hoosier!
We spent our first day at UNAM, one of the largest and most prestigious universities in Latin America and home of a UNESCO World Heritage site that was host to the 1968 Olympic games. During the visit we were able to tour our office and facilities where we host many conferences and workshops, as well as visiting the murals and academic buildings that make the site historically, architecturally, and culturally significant. President Whitten met with the Rector of UNAM, Dr. Enrique Graue, and the Director of International Affairs Dr. Francisco Trigo, where both universities reaffirmed their commitment to ongoing strategic collaboration. We were then graciously hosted by UNAM’s School of Business and Accounting (FAC) to discuss potential student and faculty opportunities before meeting for a lively and productive lunch with members of both UNAM’s and IU’s Schools of Nursing. For over four years, IU’s School of Nursing has been collaborating virtually with its UNAM counterpart, but this was the first time they were able to meet in person. We are looking forward to the development of their programs that will facilitate student mobility and increase cultural understanding–skills that will certainly benefit them and their patients when they return home to Indiana.
IU and UNAM have a long history. The partnership has been robust, with strong collaboration in physics, education, anthropology, and linguistics. The Université Sorbonne in France is a joint partner, and we are now in our third year of a series of webinars and conferences that have proven to be mutually beneficial to all three universities. Our physical presence on UNAM’s campus, with local staff and connections, has been critical to the many activities between the two universities.
We also had the chance to meet key partners that allow us to further our research portfolio, increase global understanding for students at IU, and increase the number of Mexican students studying at our Indiana campuses. We solidified our commitment to work with COMEXUS, an organization dedicated to education and cultural exchange which is supported by both the U.S. and Mexico. A new collaborative agreement will bring scholars from Mexico to IU in the areas of law, AI, business, and global and international studies. This agreement will directly benefit IU students by allowing them to receive a global perspective in these respective areas. IU will begin receiving scholars from Mexico as soon as Spring of 2024.
Our visit to the US Embassy was a highlight where Ambassador Ken Salazar and his team working on their education portfolio met with President Whitten. They spent a generous amount of time with us as we discussed the many challenges and opportunities our two nations face and the importance of increasing cross-border educational opportunities for students in both countries. We have a lot to do to reach our goals and are committed to working together for the benefit of our students, communities, and nations. We followed up this meeting with FUNED, an organization that offers funding assistance for high-achieving Mexican students to study abroad for their master’s degree. A quick shout-out to their Executive Director, Marieli Rojas, who is a proud alumna of IU’s Lilly School of Philanthropy. Her team’s shared vision is a wonderful example of commitment to higher education and the deep understanding of what international opportunities can provide, not only for the student studying abroad but for their home community and country when they return.
While President Whitten returned to Indiana, the IU Global delegation carried on to Bogotá, Colombia to strengthen and further our relationships with key partners and alumni. We were graciously hosted by four prestigious and well-placed universities where we discussed everything from the possibility of joint research activities and student mobility to the potential and need for virtual activities. While we always champion in-person activities as irreplaceable, we are firm believers that providing these opportunities for those who cannot travel plays a key role in increasing global awareness, cultural understanding, and empathy. While there we had the wonderful opportunity to meet with even more alumni… we can only hope that we provide them with as much support as they generously give to us!
After a long but fruitful week of travel and collaboration, both the IU Mexico Gateway staff and IU leaders are now back in their home offices, but the positive impact of this visit will continue to be felt. We look forward to increasing study abroad opportunities, strengthening and increasing research opportunities and providing new opportunities for future exchanges that will enhance student, faculty, and university relevance in an increasingly globally connected and competitive world.
Do you know an IU Alum living in Latin America of the Carribean? If so, please share this with them and ask them to reach out to us at fishermk@iu.edu so we can include them in our updates and plans. We are always on the lookout for our fellow Hoosiers and want to increase our IU International Alumni Network.
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