Kaleidoscope Winter 2016 Volume 49

Volume 49 Winter 2016

page 2

21st Century Skills: Teaching, Learning, Assessing page 12

Colin Lanham: Artist and Mentor page 18

A Voice for Zimbabwe

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TABLE of CONTENTS Letter From the President

1

FEAT URE

Learning in the 21st Century

2

One of Us Mountbatten Scholars

6

Looking Back Looking Back on “Shosholoza”

10

Connected Las Vegas Art Scene

11

Spotlight Colin Lanham – A Hidden Gem

12

Back Country A Conversation with Rachel and Anders Fristedt

14

Change Agents Breaking Barriers with Helenty Homans 18 Viewpoint Skills for the Past, Skills for the Future

by Paul Grimes ‘84

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Peer Review 20 Big Heart Breaking Barriers with Helenty Homans

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Inspiration 29

Cover photo: Even in This Sliding Place. Colin Lanham – 1997.

Watercolor, 26” by 22”

LETTER FROM THE

president

I am unusually fortunate to have had not one, but two, intense UWC experiences: first as a student and now as president. In the fall of 2013 I was extended a magical invitation to explore returning to UWC-USA and the opportunity to repay my debt of gratitude to this transformative institution.

In less than two years we have markedly strengthened the student experience, established greater transparency with a range of constituencies, cultivated relationships for record-breaking fund-raising, and erased the operating deficit of the school. Though there is much still to be done to achieve the excellence a UWC should expect, we have a strong foundation along with momentum and reserves. Additionally, the board has had early notification of my plan to not renew my contract to create a plan for an orderly transition. I feel confident that as I end my term in 2016, the school is well-positioned for success.

But, it’s not yet time for adieu. The challenge of creating unique programs that define UWC-USA in the 21st century is more urgent than ever and is highlighted in this issue of Kaleidoscope. The board has asked me to continue, across 2016, piloting a framework to articulate the assessment and mentoring tools, the self-awareness and skill-building curriculum, and the practice, feedback, and reflection methodology that support the creative vision of the UWC 21st Century Skills Diploma program. We have an opportunity to contribute a curricular innovation to the UWC movement, the IB, and education in general. I welcome your feedback, interest in collaboration, and financial support for this effort throughout the year—please contact me directly.

I recently witnessed 21st century skills in action when the Global Social Impact activity held a “pitch night” this fall. From 10 pm to midnight, several teams of students pitched plans to solve problems to an audience of over 50 fellow students. The winning team would have the opportunity to spend Project Week in San Francisco further developing their project, raising funds, and getting feedback from UWC alumni sponsors and firms in the Bay Area.

I watched as all the teams learned and incorporated three lessons throughout the night: the need to clearly and simply articulate their idea, the importance of finding collaborators and working through creative differences, and the need to evolve from an initial idea. It was heart-warming to see the desire, the intrinsic capacities, and the deeply supportive community of peers.

In the weeks since their pitches, the students pivoted with agility and thoughtfulness to absorb criticism, adapt their strategies, and develop more effective proposals. In addition to 21st century skills, I also saw a glimpse of what the future can hold if we focus deliberate attention on innovative, authentic education that fosters the “small but powerful cells of innovation” that Nelson Mandela celebrated.

I’m pleased to be able to build on the vision of past UWC leaders as we work to develop the skills that will help our students change the world.

Warmly,

DR. MUKUL KUMAR ’89 President

The magazine of UWC-USA, The Armand Hammer United World College of the American West Volume 49, wiinter 2016 Vice President for Advancement: Christie Baskett Editor: Carl-Martin Nelson Peer Review Editor: Jose-Pablo Salas Rojas ’06 Copy Editor: Jeannine Santiago Designer: Liz Burrill Contributing Writers: Paul Grimes ’84, Haley Jernaill ’16 (USA-HI), Ron Maltais, Dana Micucci, Carl-Martin Nelson, Tandiwe Njobe ’89, Eashwar Ramesh ’16 (Botswana), Graham Rasmussen, Jennifer Rowland Contributing Photographers: Dana Awwad ’16 (Palestine), Josefine Bruun ’17 (Denmark), John Cary, Colin Lanham, Carl-Martin Nelson, Carlos Varela ’14 Contact: UWC-USA P.O. Box 248 Montezuma, NM 87731 publications@uwc-usa.org

Kaleidoscope is published biannually by the UWC-USA Advancement Office to sustain connection with alumni and the school’s extended community.

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BY DANA MICUCCI

LE AR N I N G

I N

TH E

21st Century

empathy

EQUIPPING STUDENTS WITH NEW SKILLS FOR A NEW AGE

2

There is a big question on the minds of many educators today. Amid the seismic shifts reshaping our society—from far-reaching advances in technology and communications to accelerated globalization and economic and environmental instability—how do we prepare students to meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century?

Research conducted over the past 10 years by organizations such as Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21); the National Research Council; and Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning—with input from teachers, education experts, and business leaders—has called for a learning revolution aimed at equipping students with the skills needed to succeed in today’s complex, connected world. Recent books like 21st-Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times, by global education leaders Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel, and 21st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn, by professional development expert James Bellanca and educator Ron Brandt, have echoed that call to action.

What are these 21st-century skills? A 2014 survey of 260 companies by the National Association of Colleges and Employers cited leadership, ability to work in a team, written and verbal communication, problem-solving, and a strong work ethic among the top skills/qualities employers wanted in new college graduate hires.

21ST-CENTURY SKILLS AT UWC-USA In response to the growing 21st-century skills movement in education, UWC-USA launched a 21st-Century Skills Program this year to underscore its long-standing commitment to educating future change leaders. Drawing on the latest research and feedback from faculty, staff, and students, UWC-USA has identified six skills deemed most important for its students’ success in the 21st century. Those skills are empathy, communication, resilience, problem-solving, collaboration, and community organization—the development of which arguably has always been a valued aspect of the UWC experience.

“We are, indeed, furthering skill building that already exists at UWC-USA, but the difference now is that we have created a more structured framework for actively teaching and cultivating these skills both inside and outside the classroom,” says UWCUSA President Mukul Kumar, Ph.D. ’89. “With our new emphasis on 21st-century skills, we hope to advance the UWC mission of using education as an innovative force for peace and sustainability in a world that has become increasingly more complex and divided. We all need these skills now more than ever.”

resilience

communication

Mukul says he was inspired by business educators, such as Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and Hult International Business School, which are building these “soft skills” into their curricula to better prepare graduates for the 21st-century workforce.

UWC-USA began implementing this comprehensive new program—the first of its kind at any UWC school worldwide—in its experiential education curriculum through workshops, self-reflection exercises, student feedback groups, and one-on-one mentoring with professional coaches and What are these 21st-century skills? A 2014 survey of 260 educational psychologists. In classrooms and dorms, faculty and staff are leading companies by the National Association of Colleges and discussions on 21st-century skills and Employers cited leadership, ability to work in a team, written teaching by example. Charting student progress is an important component and verbal communication, problem-solving, and a strong of the program. To that end, UWC-USA is developing new online technology work ethic among the top skills/qualities employers wanted to assist in measuring these skills in new college graduate hires. through a mix of self, peer, and mentor assessments.

“We are incorporating a lot of opportunities for practice, reflection, and feedback in diverse settings, whether on a wilderness expedition, in a soup kitchen, or during a Bartos Institute conflict-resolution exercise,” says Mukul, who hopes to export UWCUSA’s 21st-Century Skills Program to other schools. “The six skills we’ve chosen to highlight are a lifelong journey, like learning. Learning is not just about going to lectures and acquiring knowledge. It happens all the time and takes practice.”

ACTION AND REFLECTION UWC-USA educators believe the benefits of developing and refining each of the six skills will extend beyond student self-mastery to create positive change in the world. For example, being able to demonstrate empathy, collaborate effectively, and solve a problem with appropriate resources are skills needed to tackle many of the most pressing issues of our time—from climate change and social justice to ongoing immigration challenges.

“Empathy helps you to recognize the other’s experience as valid and bridge differences in an increasingly diverse, global society, while effective communication is about articulating the truth and being able to persuade, inspire, and put issues into perspective,” says Naomi Swinton ’89, director of experiential education and director of the Bartos Institute at UWC-USA. “Given all the problems facing the world today, students need to be able to identify which ones are most meaningful to them and find creative solutions that will make a difference. Good collaboration and teamwork skills include being able to lead and follow and leverage the diverse strengths of all team members. This naturally leads to effective community organization skills, which are more important than ever because you will likely work within some type of organization in today’s world.”

Rounding off this skill set is a healthy dose of resilience, which involves the willingness to take risks and even fail. Naomi says UWC-USA is making all these skills “very explicit and alive through dialogue and discussion between students and faculty,”

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community organization 4

particularly in experiential education activities such as community service, Constructive Engagement of Conflict (CEC) retreats, Southwest Studies outings, and campus work crew, in which students gain teamwork experience by collaborating with faculty and staff on building and grounds maintenance, recycling, fire prevention, and other campusrelated tasks.

Naomi specifically cites a recent Southwest Studies trip to the U.S.-Mexican border, where she saw students demonstrating these skills while interacting with immigration and customs officers and undocumented immigrants to gain a greater understanding about a complex issue. “I witnessed a maturity and openness in the students by the questions they asked Being able to demonstrate empathy, collaborate and their willingness to connect with people with very different views,” effectively, and solve a problem with appropriate resources she says.

Antonio Andrade Luque ’17, are skills needed to tackle many of the most pressing Colombia, was on that expedition, which issues of our time—from climate change and he says “deepened his empathy” by challenging him to see the immigration social justice to ongoing immigration challenges. issue from different perspectives. “It’s important to develop 21st-century skills like empathy, communication, and collaboration because they help you to break down borders—and that includes judgments and perceptions—between yourself and others,” Antonio says. “I’m grateful that UWC-USA is giving me the tools and experiences to develop these skills. I feel empowered.”

The desire to transcend borders of all kinds is also shared by Deeva Gupta ’17, India, who says her empathy, communication, teamwork, and community organization skills have been enhanced especially through her wilderness and dorm-life experiences.

“Having the opportunity to refine and reflect on these skills at UWC-USA has helped me grow as a person and a leader,” Deeva says. “I’ve learned how to work better with others, explore new possibilities within myself, and see beyond the mindset of separation that still defines our world in many ways.”

REDEFINING SUCCESS FOR LEARNING AND LIFE UWC-USA is among a growing number of U.S. secondary schools that are actively teaching 21st-century skills. This educational transformation has been inspired in large part by the work of Washington, D.C.-based P21, a coalition of business, community, and education leaders founded in 2002 to raise awareness and influence public policy around the urgent need to prepare K through 12 students with the skills they need to succeed in the new century.

P21 Executive Director Helen Soulé, Ph.D., says more schools are implementing its Framework for 21st Century Learning, which emphasizes a core skill set called the “4Cs”—communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. “Up until now, education was focused on the acquisition of knowledge,” Soulé says. “But being a citizen is more complicated today. Leading organizations and large companies like Apple and

problem-solving

Dana Micucci is a widely published journalist and author. Her books include Sojourns of the Soul: One Woman’s Journey Around the World and Into Her Truth, a Gold Winner in the 2013 Nautilus Book Awards, and a new novel, The Third Muse.

collaboration

Intel are saying that young people seeking jobs are not adequately prepared to work in a global economy. So we have to redefine our vision of good learning, which should be knowledge based and experiential, with students taking a more active role.”

For this new kind of learning to work, teachers also must change the way they teach. “The job of teachers now is not teaching students what to think but how to think and operate effectively in today’s society,” says Donna Clementi, Ph.D., a consultant to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages who consults with schools and world language teachers to make classroom learning more applicable in the real world. “Teachers must see themselves as facilitators of learning and not simply communicators of information.”

From the beginning, UWC-USA has been a pioneer of this new learning. Though the school is now teaching 21st-century skills in a more direct, focused way, UWC-USA alumni agree that these skills were an important, transformational component of their UWC experience.

Uhunoma Edamwen ’14, a second-year student at the University of Virginia, says his experience with CEC as an orientation trip leader and as part of a team working with boys at a juvenile detention center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was pivotal in helping him develop more empathy and improve his communication, collaboration, and community organization skills. He uses these skills now in his roles as a student council representative and sustained dialogue moderator who bridges gaps between diverse campus groups. “These skills were naturally woven into the framework at UWC-USA, and they challenged me to keep exploring how I could better myself as an individual and a leader in my community,” Uhunoma says. “If you can authentically model From the beginning, UWC-USA has been a pioneer 21st-century skills, then you will inspire of this new learning. Though the school is now teaching others to change their ways, too, so they can make a greater contribution in 21st-century skills in a more direct, focused way, UWCthe world.”

Avia Tadmor ’06, a former Harvard USA alumni agree that these skills were an important, College psychology student who is transformational component of their UWC experience. pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at Columbia University, says she has also benefited from the 21st-century skills she learned at UWC-USA. “The six skills overlap and interweave and allow you to take an integrative, holistic approach to life,” Avia says. In her work as a creative-writing instructor at a cancer support center in New York City, she sees her writing as a tool for community outreach and collaboration and a way to inspire empathy.

“UWC-USA taught me and my peers to be lifelong learners,” Avia says. “You can learn only if you have the humility to acknowledge that you don’t know everything.

And if you don’t know everything, then you need these 21st-century skills to overcome challenges and make this world a better place.”

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ONE OF US

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? THE MOUNTBATTEN

SCHOLARS Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl of Mountbatten, was a British statesman, naval officer, World War II hero, and the last viceroy of India.

He was also the first president of UWC International, a role he accepted in 1976.

In that capacity, he dedicated himself to expanding the fledgling program to other countries.

WHEN MOUNTBATTEN HANDED THE UWC PRESIDENCY to Prince Charles in 1978, he had one wish left to fulfill:

the establishment of a UWC in the United States. He and Prince Charles challenged Dr. Armand Hammer to tackle it, and Hammer came through, founding UWC-USA in 1982.

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BY JENNIFER ROWLAND

Mountbatten understood the power of diplomacy.

As viceroy to India, he administered the transfer of power from Britain to the newly independent nations of Pakistan and India in 1947. Later, as governor general of India, he helped persuade Indian princes to merge their states into either Pakistan or India.

Mountbatten died tragically when his boat was bombed by the Provisional IRA in 1979. His 14-year-old grandson and a local teenager were also killed.

Since 1984, UWC-USA faculty have awarded the Mountbatten Memorial Prize to a second-year student who best represents the UWC ideals of international and intercultural understanding, personal responsibility and integrity, compassion and service, respect for the environment, and idealism. While the award is not monetary in nature, it is a special honor for each recipient.

MOUNTBATTEN SCHOLAR

Anju Nohria ’86 OPPORTUNITIES SEEM TO FIND ANJU NOHRIA ’86

wherever she is.

It started with UWC. She heard about the school from a fellow student in Bombay, India, her home. Anju applied and was accepted. “[The experience was] the best two years of my life in terms of my education,” she says.

The next opportunity came in the form of a scholarship to Harvard University. Anju had intended to return to India to study medicine, but when a Harvard recruiter found her at UWC-USA and offered a scholarship, it was an easy decision. Anju earned her undergraduate degree, and she was again thinking of returning to India when Harvard accepted her into a new program, Health Sciences and Technology, and again offered a full scholarship. Of course, she took it.

“I was fortunate to have one opportunity come after another,” she says.

It wasn’t just luck, however. Anju worked in the lab and even worked as a campus housekeeper to cover basic costs of living. She graduated from Harvard with a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate in health sciences in technology.

Anju went on to Yale School of Medicine for her medical residency and returned to Harvard as an assistant professor. In addition to teaching, she has a clinical practice and does research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Her specialty is cardiovascular disease, particularly as it relates to heart transplants, end-stage renal failure, and patients who develop heart issues as a result of undergoing cancer treatment.

“I like working with transplants because there’s a lot of leading-edge technology involved,” Anju says. Being on the medical frontier is especially appealing, and her work with cardio-oncology is taking her into new terrain.

“I am one of the first people to work in this field, and it’s definitely growing,” she says.

Anju’s patients are very sick, and she acknowledges that “there’s a lot of death and dying.” But the chance to comfort them in their final days is deeply rewarding. “I develop a relationship with my patients, and I can help them feel better and help them die with dignity and comfort,” Anju says.

MOUNTBATTEN SCHOLAR

Jason Dinger ’93 JASON DINGER ’93 CALLS HIMSELF A “SERIAL SOCIAL

entrepreneur.”

“UWC-USA taught me the importance of falling in love with big problems,” he says. “I am always looking for things that are worth trying to solve.”

As a UWC-USA student, Jason funneled his energy into the search and rescue team during the year and working with the elderly during the summer. While at Vanderbilt University, he worked with local homeless people, earning a Points of Light award from President Bill Clinton. Then the dilemma of Internet access in Native American communities caught his attention, so he started Student and Native American Partnerships, an organization to introduce technology to those communities.

After graduating from Vanderbilt with a degree in public policy, Jason spent a year as a hospital administrator in Zimbabwe. He came back to the U.S., his home country, to get involved in technology.

But health care was always Jason’s passion, and it wasn’t long before he found a way to bring medicine, entrepreneurship, and social good together to create a rewarding career. Today, he is the chief executive officer for MissionPoint Health Partners, a company he helped

“I am convinced that there is a wonderful universality in music that transcends language. It’s something I love so much, and I love the idea that it can be used to help other people.”

—KIERAN LEDWIDGE ’04 7

start in 2011. The health-care provider has grown from 10,000 members in 2012 to more than 250,000 today. Its mission is to “make health care more affordable, accessible, and improve the quality of care” for its members.

MissionPoint is a subsidiary of Ascension Health, the largest nonprofit health system in the U.S. Jason spent several years with Ascension, where he helped start the Dispensary of Hope program, an initiative to provide prescription medications to disadvantaged families.

“I’m really fixated on health-care accessibility,” Jason says. “But I imagine there will be other big problems to solve.”

He’s already looking for those problems. In his free time, Jason seeks out social entrepreneurs who could use his support and mentorship. Current areas of focus include energy, housing, and sustainability.

“I felt so grateful to be accepted to UWC-USA and join that community, and when you feel that deep sense of gratitude, there’s nothing to do but to try to embody it by giving back,” Jason says.

from advising crafts and trades members to working with college undergraduates on a one-year mentoring program. Iris works an average of 60 hours a week, but she says emphatically, “I love my job. It’s like UWC-USA: intense, tiring, and challenging. But that’s what I like.”

Indeed, Iris has kept the pace of her UWC-USA days ever since graduation. She studied law at the University of Vienna, where she was involved in orientation, student elections, and (of course) mentoring fellow law students.

Each summer, she took an internship abroad and received an Erasmus Mundus Scholarship to spend a year in Spain.

For someone who grew up in Austria’s rural countryside, Iris has seized every opportunity to see the world.

“UWC-USA opened me up to different perspectives,” she says. “It changed my way of thinking, and I want to share that.”

MOUNTBATTEN SCHOLAR

Kieran Ledwidge ’04 KIERAN LEDWIDGE ’04 HAS BEEN PLAYING THE VIOLIN

MOUNTBATTEN SCHOLAR

Iris Marlovits ’96 IRIS MARLOVITZ ’96 IS A NATURAL-BORN MENTOR.

During her two years at UWC-USA, she worked with local kindergartners to teach them international dances, songs, and games. Today, she’s mentoring young entrepreneurs in her home country of Austria and across Europe.

Kindergartners and entrepreneurs may sound like very different groups, but for Iris, the commonality is personal: “I’ve always wanted to help people.”

As the public relations officer for the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and spokeswoman for the Enterprise Europe Network, Iris has the opportunity not only to assist individual constituents but also to influence the very climate in which entrepreneurs are seeking success.

Traditionally, Austria—and much of Europe— has not been receptive to the entrepreneurial spirit, according to Iris. “In the U.S., entrepreneurs are told, ’Go for it!’ In Austria, people who try to set up new ventures face a lot of doubts,” she says. “I’m trying to change that.

I give entrepreneurs a lot of positive feedback, which they aren’t used to hearing. And it makes a difference.”

Iris has been with the chamber since 2002—a fact that surprises even her. She’s had a variety of roles, 8

since he was seven years old. Music always played “a huge part of my life,” he says, and that continued when he came to UWC-USA in 2002.

Of course, he performed in the school’s various productions, but Kieran also shared his talents with the local community in special ways. He played regularly at a local retirement home, and with co-years Kerry-Lynn Dietz, Brien Darby, and Spanish teacher Tom Curtis, he helped start the Las Vegas Children’s Chorus.

“I am convinced that there is a wonderful universality in music that transcends language,” he says.

“It’s something I love so much, and I love the idea that it can be used to help other people.”

Kieran is now one of the founding members of Miracles of Modern Science, or MOMS, a group that plays a distinct blend of orchestral rock. Like Kieran, four of the five other band members are Princeton alumni.

They came together serendipitously after feeling “out of place” within the university’s music scene.

“I had no idea what I wanted to do after UWCUSA,” Kieran says of his decision to go to Princeton. “I knew I would need an undergraduate degree, though, so I majored in international relations like nearly all UWCers do.”

Of course, he took his violin with him to Princeton.

He took music classes—enough to get a certificate in violin—and figured he would return to his home country, Australia, after graduation. But MOMS has taken off, and

“I felt so grateful to be accepted to UWC-USA and join that community, and when you feel that deep sense of gratitude, there’s nothing to do but to try to embody it by giving back.”

—JASON DINGER ’93

Kieran is still in the U.S., where he and the band have formed a base in New York. “The band has been too exciting to give up,” Kieran says.

As more people discover MOMS, the demand for their music is growing. They just released their third CD this past summer, and Kieran proudly calls it “some of the best music we’ve made.”

The band keeps him busy, but when he can, Kieran works as a substitute teacher at the Harmony Program, a nonprofit organization that provides music instruction to disadvantaged youth in New York City. A humanitarian as much as a musician, Kieran’s hero is violinist Yehudi Menuhin, an internationally recognized musician who was influenced by an international array of musical styles and who was a great humanitarian himself.

“There is a depth and empathy to his music that rings true for me,” Kieran says. “His whole way of being is something I aspire to.”

MOUNTBATTEN SCHOLAR

Dristy Shrestha ’07 ON APRIL 25, DRISTY SHRESTHA’S WORLD CHANGED

forever. She was in Janakpur, a city located 123 kilometers southeast of Kathmandu in Nepal, on assignment for the World Bank. The earth shook—hard. A magnitude-7.8 earthquake devastated the small country, killing an estimated 8,300 people, injuring 18,000, and destroying a half-million homes.

“It is impossible to find a Nepali or someone connected to Nepal who was not impacted by this tragedy,” Dristy says. “Although my immediate family and friends are safe, we have had several people we know impacted by the loss of homes and deaths of loved ones.”

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College in Vermont and working for two

years in Washington, D.C., Dristy had returned to Nepal in 2014 to work for Biruwa Ventures, an organization that supports local entrepreneurs. She spent a year learning the ropes and then became a “freelance” development specialist, tackling projects in rural parts of the country.

Returning to Nepal was never a question for her; Dristy says she is deeply connected to her country and always hoped to do work there that would have a social impact.

But she also wanted to continue her education.

Before the earthquake, Dristy planned to return to the U.S. in the fall to study for a master’s degree at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Boston.

“After the earthquake hit, I decided to defer grad school by a semester or a full year,” she says. “But after being involved in various relief efforts, I realized that the reconstruction and rehabilitation will continue for years. I will have more value returning to Nepal with a graduate degree and will be better equipped to support development work.”

Yet Dristy hasn’t stopped doing development work for a minute. Three days after the earthquake, she was able to return to Kathmandu, where she gathered with friends to see how they could help. They quickly amassed $15,000 in donations that they used toward purchasing much-needed sanitation supplies for families. “[We] decided to focus on sanitation because we are all nontechnical people who didn’t have specific skills or capacity to support the rescue work,” Dristy explains.

As Nepal struggles to build, there is still much to do.

“Our greatest need is continued support,” Dristy says.

“We will need more support to deal with repercussions of the tragedy that we may not even be aware of at this point as we move forward toward the reconstruction phase and beyond.”

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LOOKING BACK

BY TANDIWE NJOBE, 1989 SOUTH AFRICA

This past August, at the insistence of my fellow reunion classmates from 1989 and 1990, I took to the stage to lead the Blue Moon Cafe audience in singing “Shosholoza.” This was already an unusual format for the Blue Moon Cafe because typically the audience is entertained by the performer and not asked to be part of the performance.

When asked to do this, I initially declined for several reasons, least of which was that I had not sung in that kind of forum since the early 1990s and so much time had elapsed since I last sang “Shosholoza.” Eventually, I was encouraged sufficiently,

and in my introduction, I spoke about arriving at UWC-USA in 1988 and how I relied on the power of song to integrate into my new community.

Until I arrived at UWCUSA, I was immersed in a community characterized

by struggle, defiance, and the quest for freedom. My parents went into exile for the second or third time shortly before my birth, so exile was the only life I knew. Song was an important source of inspiration during the struggle, and I learned to draw courage and strength from the songs we sang.

I remember first introducing the song “Shosholoza” to my classmates. It was during orientation at Philmont, and as was customary for the final evening, each national group performed a piece. As we planned for the evening, I suggested a song—and particularly one that focused attention on the untenable plight of South Africa under the rule of apartheid. We practiced the song as we hiked, so that by the time we performed it, we had developed a familiarity with the words and melody.

The song “Shosholoza” originates from the mines of South Africa. Rich in mineral resources, mining in South Africa was an economic pillar on which apartheid thrived. It was able to do so because black laborers—cheaply imported from nonurban centers— worked in the mines for low

wages under substandard conditions. Miners were often separated from their families for extended periods. The song is about the train that comes from a particular destination—stimela esi puma e South Africa— the train that is gaining speed and steaming for South Africa.

So what did it mean to us to sing “Shosholoza” in 1988 and then 27 years later in 2015? Most important, as I started the song, I slipped into a familiar feeling of empowerment and being part of a larger purpose and community. The simple call and response construct of the song, along with the power of the lyrics and harmony, empowered us then and now by evoking a true sense of harmony, unity, and common aspiration for the betterment of our respective societies. The experience was inspiring and comforting. I was amazed that the younger classes after my class joined in to sing with a familiarity that suggests the song was passed on from year to year at UWC-USA. In that moment, “Shosholoza” united us across generations of UWCers.

My classmates had the following to say after the reunion performance of “Shosholoza” at the Blue Moon Cafe:

“‘Shosholoza’ created an awareness about apartheid from the experience of fellow students.”

—DELPHINE MÉNARD ’89

“The powerful words and lyrics take me back to our innocent days when we walked for this cause.”

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—HAVOVI TAVADIA ’90

“‘Shosholoza’ was a way to bond with others. As an English B speaker, when we sang the song together, I felt we really did share one language.”

—CONSUELO TOLOSA ’90

CONNECTED

BY CARL-MARTIN NELSON DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

On a recent Saturday afternoon in October, 15 students and faculty turned an abandoned church in downtown Las Vegas, New Mexico into a living piece of art.

Visiting artist John Cary took enormous student portraits and, with the help of the UWC-USA crew, pasted them onto the exterior of the church as part of the Inside Out Project (insideoutproject.net).

In fact, over the course of two years at UWC-

USA, most students have at least one opportunity to participate in or enjoy an element of the art scene in Las Vegas. Fortunately for the school and the community, the Las Vegas Arts Council has recently increased funding and opportunity for local

artists—including faculty and students at the school.

For example, in October the council hosted a gallery show featuring UWC-USA art teachers Colin Lanham and Jane Warsaw, along with Colin’s daughter Jessica Lanham. Additionally, art students from UWC-USA show their work in Gallery 140 on Bridge Street in downtown Las Vegas each April.

“The Las Vegas Arts Council is doing a great job of encouraging participation in all forms of art and, just as important, securing funding for the growing art scene in Las Vegas,” says Ron Maltais, music teacher and festival chorus instructor. Ron was naturally also highly supportive of a collaborative effort between UWC-USA, New Mexico Highlands University, and Luna Community College to bring the Santa Fe Community Orchestra to Las Vegas this fall for

a free concert. A dance performance featuring Highlands and UWC-USA students is also scheduled for this spring.

Donna Rivas, board president of the Las Vegas Arts Council, feels optimistic about the future of art in the community.

From children’s theater in the summer to organized gallery tours to a new gallery space in the Plaza Hotel, she sees great promise in the existing programs along with new opportunities.

“We recently acquired a program designating an Arts and Cultural District in Las Vegas that will provide tax and other economic incentives for all kinds of artists,” Rivas says. “We’ve seen tremendous increases in participation in our programs over the years.

This new development will help make art an important economic driver of the local economy.”

Students help paste giant pictures on a building in Las Vegas.

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SPOTLIGHT

BY HALEY JERNAILL ’16

Beneath the unassuming smile and twinkling eyes of Colin Lanham lies both a true artist and dedicated teacher.

Growing up in Durban, South Africa, and graduating from the art school there, Colin made his way to Swaziland in a journey that would end with accepting a teaching position at the United World College in Waterford. However, he initially had little interest in becoming a teacher until he arrived on the scene of a UWC. “In South Africa, I initially taught at an all-boys, all-white school, and I hated it. But [UWC] 12

Waterford really worked out. It was international and very politically involved— the only fully integrated multiracial school in all of Southern Africa. In a way, it saved me.”

In 1987, Colin moved with his family to UWCUSA where he currently lives and teaches art.

Although Colin clearly appreciates the rigorous academic program here, he equally values the magic that occurs outside school.

“I think that a lot of the

basic stuff at UWC-USA happens simply because people are here,” he says.

“Obviously, [the school] facilitates a lot that can be useful, but I think the best stuff is going on in buses as we’re driving places and students and teachers are sitting next to someone from another country.”

That’s not to say that there isn’t magic within the art room. In fact, although teaching was never his dream, Colin is enthusiastic when talking about his students and their progress as young artists. “Every year, we have at least one breakthrough,” Colin says.

He recalls a student who

struggled with conventional academic art and grew frustrated as the class progressed: “At some point, I started bringing used coffee filters into the art room, which she eventually started playing with—and all of a sudden, she got really caught up with it, creating this installation that just sort of took over the room. It started growing, with long rows of stuff hanging down from the ceiling and everything smelling of coffee, and of

course looking coffee-like.

In the end, she had one of the strongest shows of her class. She was so caught up in that work.”

But the students aren’t the only ones who learn in Colin’s classes.

He himself is a willing student throughout the explorations and adventures that go on in the art room.

“One of the nicest parts of being an art teacher is seeing students working with some kind of imagery that might relate, in a very different way, to what I’ve done,” he says. For example, Colin spoke of seeing himself in a student’s artwork just a few weeks ago. “I was watching her doing some watercolor stuff, and I suddenly thought, this is what I used to do when I was in high school. She was using big washes of paint, and I thought, I could actually use a bit more of this back in my work again, simply because my work has got a lot ’tighter.’ So I went back and consciously tried changing my technique.”

Colin believes learning is simply a part of teaching.

“Whenever a student wants to learn a new technique, I have to find ways of doing it, and we sort of learn it together,” he says.

As an internationally recognized artist with work published in Watercolor magazine and shows in galleries around the world, Colin has established himself as a significant artist. But despite all that, his students rarely hear about his successes, let alone see his work. “Some students don’t even know I’m an artist,” he admits, laughing. “One of them,

some time ago in the evaluations, said, ’Colin seems to be quite good at art. He’s really talented … I wish he was an artist.’”

But of course, there are other students who see Colin as a great mentor.

Atsunobu Kotani ’12, Japan, for example, when asked to share a story about Colin’s inspirational teaching simply replies: “I cannot pick one single story that can fully illustrate his greatness. He taught me how to paint. In other words, he taught me everything.”

I’ve known Colin for almost two years, but I still believe I’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg. He is a true inspiration, both as an artist and as a person, and also because he never gives anything less than his best.

But it’s clear to those who really know him that so much more lies below the surface.

LEFT: Burden of Dreams, Oil. 2000-01-01. “The original reference was from a book on Florida; the darker heart references Durban mangroves, the wide creeks of Fynnland beach, the fractured reflections at high tide.”

RIGHT: Lost Channel Colin Lanham, 2001. Watercolor, 21” X 10”. “This channel was near the hot springs in Montezuma.

It is barely visible now.”

1. At the 2013 Western States 100 in Northern California, where temperatures reached 103 degrees Fahrenheit 2. After finishing—and winning—the inaugural Monument Valley Ultra in Arizona in 2014 3. The descent into the Twin Lakes aid station, at mile 40 of the Leadville 100 in Colorado 13

A CONVERSATION

BACK COUNTRY

WITH RACHEL AND ANDERS FRISTEDT

BY EASHWAR RAMESH ’16

14

EASHWAR: What are the objectives of a wilderness trip in your mind?

Rachel and Anders Fristedt joined UWC-USA in August 2015 as co-leaders of the Wilderness Program.

After a busy start to the year with Philmont, orientation trips, and Southwest Studies programs, they sat down with second-year (and orientation leader) Eashwar Ramesh ’16 to share where they came from and reflect on where the Wilderness Program is headed.

ANDERS: No matter what the trip is—a day hike, Grand Canyon, leadership, or orientation—we want to build and develop leadership skills, community, and appreciation for the natural world. In terms of leadership, on the Grand Canyon trip, we offered the opportunity to learn skills such as navigation for the first time. Then reorientation and orientation are where students actually lead trips giving them a chance to showcase the skills they have learned. The community piece comes in having to be away from the distractions of technology and campus so students get to know each other much more intensely. Finally, we work on students developing an appreciation for the natural world. For some, this may come while hiking 10 miles a day and, for others, from a mellow three-mile day hike that allows them to spend their own time on a summit. That’s the great thing about UWC-USA. It doesn’t have to be one or the other; all students can challenge themselves at the level they want. But they all will be exposed to the wilderness in some way.

EASHWAR: How do your different backgrounds— National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and Outward Bound— complement each other on wilderness trips at UWC? RACHEL: This one makes us laugh just a little bit because there are all these stereotypes about “NOLSies” and “Outward Bounders,” but ultimately, they are really not that different because they started from the same roots. Outward Bound uses the wilderness as a medium for gaining group skills and life skills whereas NOLS uses that medium for building those group skills but also places more emphasis on technical skills.

We have also worked for many other organizations and other schools, and the unique thing that we have going for us is that we can pull from the best parts of all those programs and incorporate them into a single program for UWC-USA. EASHWAR: What has been your favorite moment on a trip with students?

RACHEL: This fall we did a trip to Hermit’s Peak, and, while we were on the summit, we ended up getting three inches of snow, so it turned into a very cold and challenging overnight trip. As we were waiting for dinner to get going and for water to boil, it was so cold that it motivated our group to play goofy games. We sang cheers like “Go Bananas, Go, Go Bananas” or played games like “Big Booty, Big Booty, Big Booty.” All of a sudden, in a group of people that only sort of knew each other, as it was a mix of first- and second-years, everyone let down their guard because we were cold and we just needed 15

to have fun and goof off. It was an incredible group bonding experience. That’s my favorite part on any trip—when people finally let that guard down and are just in the moment.

ANDERS: During the orientation trip, my group was in the middle of preparing dinner and it started pouring rain. We quickly started tightening up all the tarps and putting up a kitchen tarp, but in the middle of all this, the second-year leaders were really focused on getting dinner going as well as preparing hot drinks. In no time at all, the first-years had an amazing meal in front of them of fried mac and cheese and hot chocolate. Everyone was huddled up under the tarp laughing and having a good time. It was hard to believe that it was pouring rain and people were still jovial and happy.

EASHWAR: What ignited your passion to become wilderness instructors?

RACHEL: I did a sailing course for three weeks in Maine with Outward Bound, and at 15, you are usually trying to figure out your passions and what your path will be in life. The course served as a turning point for me because it gave me confidence and showed me that I could go out and do whatever I wished in life. The trip was challenging and enjoyable, but it was really what I learned about myself afterward that showed me that I wanted to provide this opportunity for other people.

Reflecting on that first course as a student, I realized I wanted to give that experience back to other students. What has kept me in this line of work has been that the outdoor education community is an amazing group of people. Over the years, my colleagues have taught me how to be a better person, how to communicate more effectively, and how to give feedback, as well as so much more. It is such a warm and open community that you don’t want to leave it.

and developing leadership and communication skills that the students can apply to other life situations, making them more competent citizens of the world. When I realized I could actually have a career in leading backpacking trips, I had to figure out how to make that happen.

EASHWAR: When working with students who have never experienced the wilderness before, what are some of the challenges and opportunities you are presented with?

RACHEL: I think one of the opportunities is that wilderness trips are an equalizer because the students come from all these different backgrounds and have had such different life experiences. At the end of the day, though, you all still have to hike up a mountain and carry a 30- or 40-pound pack, and you have to do that together without leaving anyone behind. It

“ALL STUDENTS CAN CHALLENGE THEMSELVES AT THE LEVEL THEY WANT. BUT THEY ALL WILL BE EXPOSED TO THE WILDERNESS IN SOME WAY.” ANDERS: It is twofold for me: The first aspect was that I ran cross-country while in high school in rural Maryland, so I ended up spending so much time across all the seasons running through the wilderness. After I graduated from college with a BA in economics, I was looking to challenge myself in a different way, so I signed up for a 21-day NOLS expedition.

It was one of the first times I felt truly engaged in my own learning in a very serious way. There were practical skills that I had to learn in order to be comfortable and successful over the course of the three weeks. It was an entirely different way of being engaged in education, and at the same time, I also saw that outdoor education was a way or tool to address social issues. I like working with diverse groups of students 16

really brings people together and puts you on an equal playing field to help support each other. The challenge for many people is that they haven’t done this before and so often people think, “This person wants me to put on a 30-pound pack and hike up a mountain, is she crazy?” For us, the challenge is trying to convince people who are new to the outdoors that they can do it and that they are very capable of doing so.

ANDERS: I think the progression that we have set up at UWC-USA is really amazing because students do come in with limited backpacking experience. However, they meet their orientation leaders, the second-years, and many of these orientation leaders were just as inexperienced as the first-years

just 12 months earlier. This shows the first-years that in just a year, they can develop the competency and confidence to lead a group of students out in the wilderness. The pressure of leading for the second-years also provides them with an opportunity to display a variety of skills that they learned over the year, including leadership, backcountry culinary, risk management, and communication skills.

EASWHAR: What has been your personal favorite wilderness experience with or without students?

ANDERS: One of the trips that comes immediately to mind is the day that we got married. We got married in the mountains on the east side of the Sierras at a ski resort that had been closed for the season. All our guests had to take a 12-minute chairlift to the wedding site. Earlier that morning, seven of my friends and I backcountry-skied up past the site and then skied down to where we were getting married. To be able to do that on the day of our wedding and bonding with friends from work and college combined with the feeling that comes with skiing was completely exhilarating.

RACHEL: The one that jumps to mind is rafting the Grand Canyon. It’s a 21-day trip, and we did it with 15 of our good friends who are all outdoor educators. The trip featured a mix of mellow days and days with big rapids where we had to work as a team to figure out how to get our boats through safely. Looking back, it was also really fun because that was my first time in the Grand Canyon, so going back now during Southwest Studies and hiking down the canyon, I was able to juxtapose the two experiences.

EASWHAR: What sorts of new developments do you anticipate for the Wilderness Program at UWC-USA? ANDERS: Ari (the previous wilderness director at UWC-USA) left us with a really strong program, and that feels great.

We really like the model of peer leadership, and I was really impressed to see it in action during orientation. What it feels

like we need now is something more for the second-years because we worked really intensely with 40 of you to get orientation trips prepared and launched and now I haven’t seen you since. This has brought up a couple of questions for us: 1) How can we help all second-years to continue to develop their skills?

2) Where do your interests lie, and how can we make that model work?

I think this is an area where we can develop the program further.

EASHWAR: Do you have a “wilderness wish list” of personal wilderness experiences, and if so, what is at the top of that list?

ANDERS: It’s funny because there is outdoor activity and then there is wilderness expedition. For outdoor activity, it would be backcountry skiing in Hokkaido, Japan. If you watch a lot of ski movies, they always have these scenes of people being buried going downhill because there is so much powder—that’s what it’s often like in Hokkaido. But as for an expedition, I would love to ski the John Muir Trail in California. It is the highlight of the Pacific Crest Trail and is 220 miles long. I want to ski the length of that trail with a friend—or with Rachel, obviously—if we can get a baby sitter for 12 days!

RACHEL: You can tell skiing is on our mind because winter is here and we just moved to a place with skiing nearby. The ski trip to Hokkaido is at the top of my list, and another ski trip we have talked about is skiing in the Lofoten Islands in Norway.

It’s really amazing relief. It goes from ocean just straight up to the top of the mountain. On my Instagram feed, I have the Lofoten ski lodge, and they continually post these epic pictures of skiing, being on the water, and then returning to a cozy cabin—and I’m sold! It just makes me think every day, “When are we going?”

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CHANGE AGENTS

BY RON MALTAIS, UWC-USA MUSIC INSTRUCTOR

Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa ’10 describes herself as “a suburban kid from Zimbabwe,” opera singer, classical pianist, Princeton graduate, UWC-USA alumna, and a member of the postcolonial African “born free” generation.

Tanya presently resides in Brooklyn, New York, and in August 2015, I had the pleasure of seeing her perform in two shows: Africa My Beautiful (with Thuli Dumakude) and The Dawn of the Rooster. In The Dawn of the Rooster, Tanya is identified as lyricist, composer, and musical director. With a cast of 13 musicians, it portrays a stunning portrait of the history of Zimbabwe’s liberation through words, images, and song.

Although we had been in touch since her graduation from UWC-USA, it was during this visit that I was able to catch up with Tanya and her developing career as an actress, composer, singer, and playwright. During lunch at an outdoor cafe in Brooklyn, Tanya spoke candidly about her artistic journey and aspirations.

“The tales of the hunt will always glorify the hunter until the lioness learns to write.”

18 14

During her tenure at UWCUSA, Tanya led the African Chorus, and, as her vocal coach, I worked closely with Tanya to develop her vocal technique. Before her departure from UWC-USA, Tanya was invited to New York and was offered a lead role in Eve Ensler’s play I am an Emotional Creature. She later performed alongside Gabourey Sidibe, toured internationally, and was directed by Rosario Dawson.

At Princeton, Tanya continued to study voice and musical composition and also developed her skills playing the mbira, a Shona thumb piano, which she has incorporated into her recent performances.

She is presently working with artists such as Thuli Dumakude (singer, actress, director, vocal coach, and social activist). Africa My Beautiful is a production developed through collaboration between Tawengwa and Dumakude and is a play featuring both women sharing life experiences through stories and song.

Regarding her show The Dawn of the Rooster, Tanya offered the following in her composer’s notes.

“In 2011 I traveled home to Harare on a school break to collect stories from older family members for posterity’s sake. After living in the United States I was grappling with the construct of national identity in a foreign context. Many of my siblings live outside of Zimbabwe, and some have gone on to have children born in the Diaspora.

Currently, about 25% of Zimbabwe’s population resides in the Diaspora.

How can a sense of national pride be instilled in Zimbabweans living outside of the country’s borders? All interviews were conducted with people very close to me; voices of women, men, teachers, soldiers, politicians, journalists, flight attendants, nurses, and academics whose actions helped place me where I am today. To be ignorant of history is to scorn the lives sacrificed for my freedom, and to be cognizant of it is to honor the courage and

determination shown by my ancestors. Perhaps by reconnecting with these stories my generation of Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora will see the line of greatness and fearlessness that precedes them and know that the onus is on us to continue this work.

Perhaps, by reconnecting with these stories the truth will set all of us free.”

Tanya acknowledges that many people have assisted her in her professional career. She is an enterprising artist who has steadily established a vast network of valuable contacts. To date, Tanya has released two solo albums, and she previously recorded an anthem titled Break the Chain for the One Billion Rising Campaign, which galvanized women’s marches across the globe and amassed more than 2 million views on YouTube. The Dawn of the Rooster will be presented at the Harare International Festival of the Arts in 2016.

VIEWPOINT

BY PAUL GRIMES ’84

As a member of the very first UWCUSA graduating class—who remembers battling through the mud of an incomplete construction site when we commenced in September 1982—a recent return visit for a couple of weeks provided an ideal opportunity for reflection.

Among other things, it allowed me to think about how the world has changed since 1982 and on the skills that might be required by UWC graduates to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

It also made me reflect on what has remained the same.

The college’s ambitious mission demands that it must always strive to be far more than just another international high school. The challenge is to provide a distinctive educational experience that equips students to make a meaningful difference in their local communities and beyond. So, what are the skills that UWC-USA graduates will require in the 21st century?

In answering this question, it is tempting to focus on the big trends at play in the world:

• Information technology

has profoundly changed since 1982 and digital technology is now a pervasive force.

• The nature of global

conflict has become even more complex than it was in 1982 and the solutions appear more elusive.

• Sustainability is a larger and more pressing global challenge.

Although these big trends are undeniable and UWC-USA educators must adapt to confront them, I would argue that far more has remained the same about leadership since 1982. More specifically, it seems to me that there is an enduring need for UWC-USA to provide a broad range of leadership development experiences for students that go well beyond the classroom.

Taking inspiration from the sister UWC colleges established prior to 1982, particularly Atlantic and Pearson Colleges, wilderness and community service were given a central place in the life of the college.

It is these educational experiences outside the

classroom that create some of the strongest opportunities for students to build and hone the personal qualities to be more effective future leaders.

Effective leadership in the 21st century requires many attributes including communication, problemsolving, team work, and empathy. However, if pressed, I would list two particular attributes that I consider essential, not only in the past, but for the remainder of the 21st century and beyond: resilience and the ability and commitment to take action.

Resilience has always been an essential attribute for good leaders. Life will always bring with it setbacks, if not outright failure, both professional and personal.

If UWC-USA is to fully realize its mission, it must continue to equip students with the skills to be resilient, particularly in a rapidly changing 21st century world.

To fulfill the UWC-USA mission, graduates must take risks and bounce back from inevitable setbacks.

Resilience is one of those attributes that cannot be learned through theoretical teaching alone. It requires practical, experiential learning in challenging situations. They need to be able to stick to a project or endeavor when the going gets tough. Inevitably, it will get tough—whether it be working in a local community to make a classroom or an elementary school system more effective; or working on a start-up project in a disadvantaged community; or seeking to influence the course of politics on a local, national, or even international scale.

Of course, students can develop and strengthen some resilience skills by navigating a demanding IB academic program. However, their learning will always be more effective if they are exposed to significant opportunities in a broader range of settings, particularly in the wilderness or through meaningful community service. Moreover, this learning will be amplified if students have greater latitude to stretch themselves without the safety net being too obvious or too close at hand.

Ultimately, UWCUSA students need to build resilience, but also develop the capacity and predisposition to take action. This includes fostering an attitude of what some management thinkers describe as a “bias for action.” Crucially, it should also include skills in community organizing—the skills necessary to organize others to achieve a worthy community aim, whether it be leading or contributing to development projects in disadvantaged communities or endeavors that promote peace, conflict resolution, or sustainability.

The founding UWCUSA faculty placed great emphasis on creating space for students to lead in wilderness and community service settings. Now, a third of a century later, the experiential opportunities offered by UWC-USA are the vital ingredients that allow students to emerge better equipped for leadership in the 21st century than if they had attended a traditional international high school.

19

peer

LEFT TO RIGHT: Paul Grimes ’84, Melanie Weston ’86,

Patty Milligan ’86, Karen Taylor ’87, and Mukul Kumar ’89 at Philmont 2015

REVIEW

At the beginning of the school year we were joined by some alumni, who at the very last minute came to help at Philmont! Paul Grimes ’84 and his wife Deb, Melanie Weston ’86 and three children, Patty Milligan ’86 and son, Karen Taylor ’87 and children, and Gavin Chuck ’88. Patty said “It was lovely to be at the campus but also Philmont is magical—not only because it is nostalgic but it just “clears the slate” so to speak—takes people away from the cares that come with being at the college. I like that feeling—it really is beautiful too.”

CLASS OF 1984

Dr. Paul Grimes, former secretary of agriculture for the federal government of Australia, and wife Deb spent a few weeks on campus at the beginning of the school year. Paul was the first guest speaker at the presidential Fireside Chat series where he shared his journey from UWC through amazing government and policy roles and into the present. He discussed lessons he learned along the way on leadership and managing conflict.

Lousewis van der Laan joined the International Board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). ICANN’s mission is to ensure a

stable, secure, and unified global Internet. Lousewis continues to be the VP of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

In addition, Lousewis was Chair of the Manifesto Committee for the 2014 European elections from May 2013 until the successful the adoption of the manifesto in November of that year.

CLASS OF 1985

Ken Neal is currently working at NatureNer USA as the Director of Energy Operations. Ken will return to campus in February for the Annual Conference.

CLASS OF 1986

Francisco H. G. Ferreira is a Senior Adviser in the

World Bank’s Development Research Group, where he oversees the Bank’s research programs on poverty, inequality, and agriculture.

Francisco is also a nonresident Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA, Bonn), and has published widely in the fields of poverty and inequality in developing countries.

CLASS OF 1989

After 13 years working at Porsche Latin America in Miami, Diego Lopez is moving to Sao Paulo to be part of the team that will set up the new subsidiary Porsche Brazil. Diego invites anyone coming to Sao Paulo to let him know, “I would be very happy to see you!!”

CLASS OF 1991

Trevor Hallstein completed a 170 km run around Mont Blanc on August 28, 2015 as a fund-

raiser for all of the United World Colleges.

CLASS OF 1993

Edward Dallam Melillo is an Associate Professor of History and Environmental Studies at Amherst College in Massachusetts. Yale University Press recently published his book Strangers on Familiar Soil: Rediscovering the ChileCalifornia Connection (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015).

CLASS OF 1994

Olivier J. Cottray and wife Åsa Massleberg welcomed their first baby Liv Elsa Massleberg Cottray on September 2, 2015.

Ana Yoseth Mata Quesada completed her doctorate degree in Medicine and Surgery and is currently working in Costa Rica as a physician. She is also a professor of public health and tropical medicine and diseases for the Philadelphia

LEFT: Francisco H. G. Ferreira ’86 CENTER: A new book by

Edward Melillo ’93 20

RIGHT: Olivier Cottray ’94 and family

Ana Yoseth Mata Quesada ’94

University branch in Costa Rica. She lives happily with her daughter Daniela and boyfriend John. She has remained close friends with Jennifer Dykstra who recently visited her in Costa Rica and had a great time picking coffee beans, hiking, cooking, and sightseeing.

CLASS OF 1996

Lana Nasser was our second guest to the presidential Fireside Chat series. Lana read (for the first time) bits from her upcoming book Bint Ibrahim (The Daughter of Abraham). Lana also presented her solo performance “Turaab” (Sand) to 60 students and friends of the school.

CLASS OF 1998

Shafee Jones-Wilson has been living in Tivat, Montenegro for two and a half years and loves it. In October she began a new job as Business Development Director for Construction Services in Continental Europe for AECOM. She has been rowing and sailing as much as possible and enjoying the surrounding mountains and sea. She took a month off before starting this job to spend some time in New Mexico to visit Lisa Hutchcraft and Jen Forester.

Mustu Barma and wife Sarah recently left Kenya and moved to Washington, DC. They now have an eight-month-old baby. She’s a ball of smiley fun and they enjoy every day with her.

They will be in DC until March before moving back to the Congo.

Wangari (Kebuchi) Muikia is still in Nairobi, working as a partner in a consulting firm that focuses on public sector support to governments. She married Mbugua Muikia, a captain for Kenya Airways. They have a 20-month-old son named Mwangi.

Angela Lytton ’98 and fiance

recently got engaged, and is planning a wedding for next year.

Pierre Monteux is still in his hometown in Provence working in real-estate management. He spends his free time hiking, running, and cycling all over the Southern Alps. After an iron man triathlon in 2014, his 2015 Challenge just ended after 11 trail mountain races.

been involved with the Spanish American football team as a defensive back coach. His team played last summer against Israel to qualify for the European Championship.

Hilde Restad is still living in Oslo with her husband Nadim and newborn baby Emil. This Christmas they are planning a trip to Palestine so Emil can get to know his Palestinian family on his father’s side.

Their family is confronted with challenges due to the fundamental political insecurity Palestinians and their descendants face.

Angela Lytton is back in Los Angeles working for America’s Favorite Quiz Show, Jeopardy! She says: “I am so LA now that I am working in television!” She

Lisa (Strassner) Hutchcraft lives in Colorado Springs and works part-time as a family nurse practitioner at a youth detention and treatment center, which she finds “always pretty interesting.”

She is a mom to a preschooler and toddler and will welcome another new addition to her family in February 2016. She gets to meet up with Jen Foerster fairly often.

Shafee Jones Wilson also visited. She also sees Jubilee Miremba ’97 and family occasionally.

Shannon (Duncan) Bodwell has been working at NGO Grassroots International for the last five years working with small farmers and indigenous people around the world to

Edgar Blanco-Rosete still lives in Barcelona and has been there since 2007 working as an art director.

In his free time he has

LEFT: Wangari (Kebuchi)

Muikia ’98 and family RIGHT: Hilde Restad ’98 and family

21

peer REVIEW get access to and control of natural resources needed to survive and thrive. After 15 years together she married her now husband, Aaron, in October 2014. They live in Boston.

Tatjana Bruss is still traveling. After having owned her own business for 10 years, she sold her business and closed down the shops, rented out her house, sold her car, and got on a plane. After a year and a half she still loves traveling. She discovered her love for surfing and can’t imagine ever living away from the ocean again. She met up with Carlos Dominguez, Yerim Tejada ’97, Raquel Virtue, Luigi Gentile, and Sergio Estrada.

Ariel (Hearne) Maddocks is living in Boston enjoying family and work. Her son, Elliott, is in first grade and her daughter, Claire, is in pre-k and they keep her running since they love zipping around on their scooters. Ariel works at Liberty Mutual while her husband Chris works at UNICEF. Michelle Kent is still living in Bright, Victoria in Australia, a small

tourist destination in the mountains. Michelle’s oldest daughter has started school this year and her second daughter just turned four.

Mary Ellen Mitchell Eilerman ’99 & a resident of Lydia’s House

Yangchen Tshogyel is still working for the central bank in Bhutan. She has two daughters. She met with Nirjan Rai’s wife, Fungma, when she was in Bhutan for a work related visit.

Ghislaine Arecheta Bolton’s life these days is very much child-oriented.

She has two boys (seven and four) and a five-monthold girl who keep her busy and ever so happy. She is working part-time with children on an introductory course in the arts.

Siu Fung Emerald Yau is still living in Hong Kong, working in finance. She got married in 2013 and now has an eight-monthold cookie monster named Maya. She eats anything and everything...

Steve Watkins spends most of his time underwater, safely operating a nuclear reactor on a submarine for the US Navy. He married a nurse from South Carolina.

Steve also volunteers his time with local food banks and animal shelters giving

back a little at a time and radiating positivity.

Lena Boesser-Koschmann is living in Denver, working in law enforcement for the National Park Service. She is an avid CrossFitter and recently started coaching part time. She really enjoys Denver for the active, outdoor life it offers!

Julianne Marie Fraser is living in Keene, New York with her daughter, Joy, and their two cats. She has a cleaning business, Great Camp Detailing.

She is looking forward to returning to Whiteface Mountain to teach skiing and snowboarding for the 6th season.

Tea (Reiman) Maasalo is working as a lawyer and living in Espoo, near

Helsinki, and enjoying a very active life with her husband Paulus, and their two daughters who are four and six years old.

CLASS OF 1999

Mary Ellen Mitchell Eilerman opened a second house for the nonprofit she founded two years ago, Lydia’s House. “When moving our offices I found a binder for the community service program I started at UWC, ’Phenomenal Women’ and thought this (UWC-USA) is where this all started.”

Lindsay Michael is a host and producer of Podcast Playlist at CBC/ Radio Canada.

As Program Manager at Root Change, Smriti

There was a small gathering featuring many members of the class of 2000 in Washington, DC this past fall. FROM LEFT: Maga Preciado, Gigi Christopher, Althea Wilson, Roshin Mathew, Joel Hunt, Yoomie Huynh, Adrienne Norris, Marin Toscano (Adri’s wife), Paul El-Meouchy ’99, Josh Hall ’01, Susan Keppelman ’01, Adelina Voutchkova-Kostal, and Jakub Kostal ’02 and their first child 22

Bettina Miguez and Seamus Abshere welcomed their first baby girl Chiara Rosa Abshere Miguez.

Lakhey provides guidance and support for achieving programmatic objectives.

Smriti has worked for nearly ten years in international development as a practitioner in the field, consultant for national governments, and project manager on strategic advisory projects.

CLASS OF 2001

Alberto Garcia-Basteiro coordinates the Tuberculosis Research Unit at Manhiça Health Research Centers, one of the leading African biomedical research institutions. However, he often travels to Barcelona and Amsterdam, since he is also affiliated with the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, and the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development.

On September 19, 2015, Lucas Josten ’01 married the lovely Sophie von

LEFT: Kristoffer Sorensen

’01 and third son Benjamin Kristoffer Sorensen RIGHT: Ignacio Alvarez Gussoni ’04 (on right)

Scheel at a pretty castle in Western Germany. Axel Rosenberg ’01, his wife Karoline and their one yearold girl, Tiril, together with Kirils Jegorovs, Yonatan Sela, Moritz WaldsteinWartenberg ’01 and Dafna Raz (Herzberg) ’02, had the pleasure of attending the magical weekend and sharing their fond memories of Lucas’ UWC-USA days.

Lucas and Sophie welcomed their son Kaspar Josten into the world in November.

Kristoffer Sorensen and wife Carrie have a third son, Benjamin Kristoffer Sorensen, born August 14th, 2015.

CLASS OF 2002

Seamus Abshere and Bettina Miguez, THE couple of the class of 2002,

Mohammed Herzallah ’03, Tamara, and Jawad

have recently moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, and had their first girl, Chiara Rosa Abshere Miguez, born this August.

Kachi Okoronkwo has been running her own recruiting and career counseling consultancy since early 2014, supporting clients like Sungevity, the #1 privately held solar company in the US, and most recently Navdy, an innovation HUD startup in San Francisco.

Joel Larson and wife Amelia Larson are residing in Washington, DC. They had their first son, Soren Larson, who was born this August.

CLASS OF 2003

Mohammed Herzallah and wife Tamara welcomed their first-born Jawad.

Rodrigo Blanco ’04 and Andrea Cano

Obama. Monique has been working in the White House since 2009.

Rachel Markowitz obtained her M.A. in Global Policy Studies from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Rachel moved to Washington, DC where she joined AMIDEAST as the coordinator of the YES Program, an exchange for high school students from countries with significant Muslim populations.

Ignacio Alvarez Gussoni started working at the Organization of American States in Washington, DC as a Consultant in Political Affairs.

CLASS OF 2004

Rodrigo Blanco and Andrea Cano tied the knot on September 12, 2015.

Monique Dorsainvil was promoted to Deputy Chief of Staff of the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs for US President Barack 23

peer REVIEW Lindsay Cope ’05

CLASS OF 2005

Lindsay Cope recently started her second year of service with the United States Peace Corps. As a volunteer in the Philippines, she works on projects under the coastal resource management program, which includes management of marine protected areas, environmental education campaigns on coastal ecosystems and fisheries conservation, and solid waste management.

Lindsay’s service is integrated with the completion of her masters degree in International Environmental Policy and Oceans and Coastal Resource Management at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.

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William David MonzonAguirre, son of Harriet (Rollitt) Monzon-Aguirre ’05

Harriet (Rollitt) MonzonAguirre and her husband Carlos Monzon-Aguirre welcomed their first baby, William David MonzonAguirre, born on July 8.

Annie Gonzalez Milliken and Lucas Gonzalez Milliken welcomed their first baby girl Moira Josephine Gonzalez Milliken on September 1.

Sarah (Erb) Sigmond and her husband Derek Sigmond also welcomed their first baby boy, Rayland Michael Sigmond, on October 5.

Naleli Morojele is currently working on her Ph.D. in Political Science in South Africa. She has been awarded a Prestige Scholar bursary from the Office of

Trauma, Forgiveness and Reconciliation Studies at the University of the Free State to do her studies full-time. She also recently signed a contract to have her first book manuscript Women Political Leaders in Rwanda and South Africa: Narratives of Triumph and Loss published by Barbara Budrich Publishers (Germany). The book will be released in early 2016.

Benjamin (Ben) Silverstein was engaged to Manasi Kapoor last September.

Moira Josephine Gonzalez Milliken daughter of Annie Gonzalez Milliken ‘05

Brittany Sutaya Nanjin DuChaussee ’06 and husband

CLASS OF 2006

Nalleli Nava Miranda recently started working for the Attorney General’s Office of Mexico, under the division of crime prevention and services to the community. Nalleli has the opportunity to work with victims who have lost a family member to forced kidnapping, and helps make the connection to the department of Human Rights. “I love to know that, although in some cases there is very little to do, I try to help people through the bureaucratic process, and accompany them to periodic meetings with other attorneys to ensure that their cases are not simply filed away.”

Last September Brittany Sutaya Nanjin DuChaussee married Alfred DuChaussee.

Brittany prosecutes felony crimes against children at the Second Judicial District Attorney’s office in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Sarah (Erb) Sigmond ’05, Derek Sigmond, Rayland Michael Sigmond

Kayton Parekh and Nora (Reynolds) Parekh had both a Christian and a Hindu wedding ceremony on

Kayton Parekh ’06 and Nora (Reynolds) Parekh

Michael Donovan “Ike” Traynor III son of Antinea Ascione ’08

2014, Laurie completed his master’s at Dartmouth College last year and is currently applying for Ph.D. programs in, “the most UWC field imaginable: International Relations!”

CLASS OF 2008

Antinea Ascione and her husband welcomed into the world their first born Michael Donovan Traynor III “Ike.”

October 4, 2015 in Seattle, WA. The UWC-USA guests were Kalu Long, Mario Salazar, Miljan Zecevic; also Lukas Manka, and Jonathan (Jon) Jenner were Kayton’s groomsmen.

Victoria Alleyne was the winner of the UWCpreneur Prize. Victoria’s project aims to be the first calculator that measures combined environmental footprints to provide users with a more holistic view of their environmental impact.

Victoria just became the CEO of CatalystX, an organization whose mission is to catalyze social change in Canada.

Suzana (Suz) Carp is the Secretary General for the Eco Dobrogea NGO. Environmental activism

is something rather new in Eastern Europe and, after moving back home to Romania, Suz felt motivated to contribute to this movement and drive environmental advocacy in her home country –“so this is what I’ve been up to lately, pushing for a change in Romania in the way the environment is approached at the local level.”

CLASS OF 2007

Domas Girtavicus was named VP of Business Development for AviaAm, an integrated aviation company engaged in the aircraft leasing, trading, marketing, management, and consulting business in Lithuania.

Len Necefer is a 4th-year Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University (expected May 2016). In addition, he is a graduate student researcher at Sandia National Laboratories for the Department of Energy’s Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs.

Robin Pedroza married Laura Ost on September 26. Laurin Schoenemann, Thomas Compier, Domas Girtavicus and Pablo Sanchez Santaeufemia attended.

This past summer in England, Laurie Laker— along with Basiel Bogaerts ’08 and Charles Barstow ’08—attended the wedding of Robin Lomax Bjerke ’08 to his longtime girlfriend Sarah. Additionally, he and Ashton Brown grabbed a long overdue coffee in London. Working at Colorado College since

Len Necefer ‘07 (left) posing with Sally Jewell (Secretary of the Interior) and Ernest Moniz (Secretary of Energy)

Natacha Letort started working as a talent consultant at Effective Management Consulting Corporation in Bogota, Colombia. Natacha and her husband Alejandro Suarez will celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary this March.

Nicole Paulet Piedra graduated from the International Education Policy master’s program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she conducted research on global education and Latin American education policy. At the end of the school year, Nicole was selected by classmates and program faculty to receive an Intellectual Contribution & Faculty Tribute Award.

Her biggest celebration this year was also to marry her UWC-USA love Peter Smith ’10. The small ceremony took place on May 29th at Cambridge City Hall in Massachusetts.

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peer REVIEW Graham Rasmussen (Dir. of Annual Giving), Shobhit Kumar ’12, Nkosi Shangwa ’12 (back row) Yun-Yun Li ’12, Christie Baskett (VP for Advancement), and Diya Jones ’11 (front row)

Darius Aruho ’13 (middle) with Sheema Pride Band

Soumaya Difallah ’15 (right)

CLASS OF 2010

CLASS OF 2012

CLASS OF 2013

CLASS OF 2014

David Ishmael recently founded The Ishmael Global Foundation. This foundation aims to improve the world through service and community action and it was established in loving memory of Dr. Fannye Thompson-Ishmael, David’s mother.

Aminata Mbodj started the SeneBright Initiative, an educational outreach program to encourage young students to become entrepreneurs and leaders, as well as NADIA Group, a social business venture aimed at bringing ethically manufactured leather bags, sandals, and belts to sociallyconscious consumers. In November she attended the One Young World Summit in Bangkok, Thailand.

Mikaela Osler is taking a gap year and in October came back to UWC-USA to help lead the Pecos Trail Southwest Studies project.

Onyemauchechukwu “Justice” Nwigwe established Papa Theo’s Fish Farm in his hometown of Ihitta-Ogada, Nigeria.

This fish farm uses aquaculture practices to rear fish from eggs to market and uses the profits from selling locally grown fish to help members of the community.

Currently studying at St. Olaf College, Justice received the “Best Social Venture” award and a grant to continue his project.

Peter Smith graduated from Princeton in 2014, and, after a year of service with AmeriCorps in Boston, now works at PlanPP, a consulting firm that helps with monitoring and evaluation of public policy in São Paulo.

Leonoor Cornelissen started work as a Humanitarian Affairs Officer at Doctors Without Borders in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Shobhit Kumar, Nkosi Shangwa, Yun-Yun Li, and Diya Jones ’11 all students at Princeton University, met with Graham Rasmussen and Christie Baskett from our advancement team in the fall.

Darius Aruho is a chemical engineering major at The University of Oklahoma where he was named Outstanding Freshman and Outstanding Sophomore— one of 12 students chosen annually. Last school year, Darius won the Thatcher Hoffman Smith Prize for his project called Take a Break From the Hot Sun Child, Uganda. With the funds from the prize, Darius purchased brass and percussion instruments and founded the Sheema Pride Band in Karera, a village in the Ugandan district of Sheema.

CLASSES OF 2013-15

UWC-USA Alumni attended a Wheaton College UWC Annual Retreat. This year’s theme focused on social entrepreneurship.

CLASS OF 2015

In August 2015, Jia Chern Teoh decided to embark on a 70000 kilometer cycling adventure through eight different countries from Malaysia to the Himalayas.

“Traveling allowed me the anonymity and alternate experiences to shake up my perspective, while cycling offered me the freedom to be fully self-sustaining.”

Soumaya Difallah is currently living in Ecuador as a Davis Fellow with the

WHEATON COLLEGE UWC ANNUAL RETREAT TOP ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): Vanina Morrison ’15, Era Saraci ’15, Olga Khaminwa26

Joseph ’15, Brian Butler ’15, Adrian Jennings ’14, Jenish Amatya ’13 BOTTOM (LEFT TO RIGHT): Amelie Vavrovsky ’14, Fini Just ’14, Hannah Kasper ’14, Jessica Abramson ’15, Muhammad Azman ’15

bridge-year organization Global Citizen Year.

She works at a museum of indigenous arts, her city’s tourism office, and as a researcher for an indigenous women’s radio show aired from Ecuador’s national assembly in Quito.

Soumaya’s main goals for the year are to develop the intercultural communication skills learned at UWCUSA to create meaningful relationships in her community, and to apply the technical education from her IB Social Anthropology classes to publish a book she is writing about the history of the museum (El Museo Viviente Otavalango).

merci!

Christian Gath ’15 (far right bottom row)

Christian Gath participated in Global Citizen Year in Senegal. He lives with a host family and works in their village learning about early childhood education and volunteering at a community center and orphanage.

On the second week of August 2015, 25 alumni from the classes of 2002 and 2003 gathered for a week of great fun, great food, great wine and lots of UWC-USA love in the magical Domaine de L’Astic, in Vagnas, France. All attendees would like to thank Colette Murphy and her family for making their little piece of heaven available and affordable to all of us, and allowing us to make the Domaine de L’Astic our home for this unforgettable week.

Christian is learning both French and Wolof during his time in Senegal.

Julian Leibart was in Ecuador for five weeks. After taking Spanish classes he worked in a hospital with

CLASS OF 2002 ATTENDEES Aleksa Jorga Ashley Dunlop Dafna Raz Emma Tilquin Gadi Maayan Ilona Johnson Ingrid Stige Judit Koppany Justine MacWilliam Nahoko Hoshino Niamh Fleming-Farrell Romina Marchese Tomasz Zajaczkowski Ugo Gragnolati Ukachi Okoronkwo

Julian Leibart ’15

the goal of seeing as many departments as possible.

In January Julian will participate in Semester at Sea before starting medical school in Berlin in April.

CLASS OF 2003 ATTENDEES Alessandro Carini Ali Mrabti Anga’aefonu Bain-Vete Colette Murphy Flavio Priore Hanna Sankowska Nahal Zabarjadi Patrick Sam Renate Ziverte Rita Kaufman

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BIG HEART

BY GRAHAM RASMUSSEN DIRECTOR OF ANNUAL GIVING

A longtime supporter of UWC-USA and resident of the Santa Fe, New Mexico, area for more than 40 years, Helenty Homans pursues initiatives for peace and the public good by living her convictions.

A refugee from Czechoslovakia who fled the country mere months before the Nazi invasion, Helenty first became involved in reform efforts by helping improve teaching in the Boston public school system in the 1940s. After moving to Santa Fe in the 1970s, Helenty took up the cause of prison reform as a result of the deadly 1980 riot at the Penitentiary of New Mexico. Equally dedicated to preservation and agriculture, Helenty has a conservation easement on two acres of cultivated fields on her property, and these lands will exist in perpetuity as land reserved for farming. In addition, she donated part of her land to the Santa Fe Community Housing Trust so that affordable housing could be built there for local families.

Helenty’s involvement with UWC-USA was inspired in part by a trip to the Holy Land where she and her granddaughter witnessed the stark and inhumane

Dana Awwad ’16 poses with Helenty Homans in her home in Santa Fe.

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conditions created by the Arab-Israeli conflict. In response, Helenty established an endowed scholarship in 2007 for the perpetual support of young people from both Israel and Palestine to attend UWC-USA. Every two years, one new student from Israel and one new student from Palestine arrive in Montezuma as Helenty Homans Scholars.

Helenty sees tremendous value in bringing together young people who have grown up on opposite sides of the conflict. On a recent personal visit to her home near Santa Fe, one of the scholars, a young Palestinian woman, described how she handled an interaction with an Israeli student who had talked about the conflict with Palestinians in highly aggressive terms. After some friction, the Palestinian student and the Israeli student were able to discuss the conflict constructively and find some common ground. “That gives me hope,” Helenty says. “The idea of the United World College is important: training young people from all over the world to be new leaders, allowing them to listen and get to know each other, helping them to talk to each other. I see the world falling apart right now, but these young people are our potential and the world’s next generation.”

She is quick to emphasize that all humans share the common bond of the human condition: We all need food, shelter, and other people. “We are a ’groupy’ society, and we can’t live in isolation,” she says. “We need to learn to live together, respect humanity, and find others to be with.”

“It is fine to be an idealist,” Helenty advises future change makers. More specifically, she encourages a change in thinking about how our nation conducts its affairs. “[The U.S.] is spending trillions on defensive measures and weapons of mass destruction,” she says. “On the other hand, we have a huge debt to the Third World, which is underdeveloped. We should give these people a chance to live life, too. That’s what we should emphasize as a democracy. We should open our gates to refugees. We should do what the Statue of Liberty says.”

INSPIRATION

The Peace of Wild Things When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. —WENDELL BERRY

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The MAGAZINE of UWC-USA, The ARMAND HAMMER UNITED WORLD COLLEGE of the AMERICAN WEST

The Armand Hammer United World College of the American West P.O. Box 248 Montezuma, NM 87731-0248 USA

www.uwc-usa.org

UWC MAKES EDUCATION a FORCE to UNITE PEOPLE, NATIONS, and CULTURES for PEACE and a SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP FORUM: OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUMMER FUN AND LEARNING Do you know someone who might be interested in UWC? The UWC-USA summer program, Global Leadership Forum, is a great way for students to learn about the mission, themselves, and the skills that great, global change-agents possess.

Check out the website summer.uwc-usa.org for more information and then tell a friend!