From REUNION ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
On Saturday, June 1 at Mileti Alumni Center on the BGSU campus hosted the first-ever reunion of participants in the thirty-six year old exchange agreement between BGSU and the Xi’an International Studies University (XISU) in Xi’an, China.
More than 50 participants attended, traveling from around Ohio, several different states and Canada. The U.S. and China sides of the exchange were represented in about equal numbers. Four official delegates from XISU came from Xi’an, including Vice President Wu Yaowu. BGSU President Rodney Rogers greeted the visitors and congratulated the exchange participants. Also present were Deans Raymond Craig of the College of Arts & Sciences and Dawn Shinew of the College of Education and Human Development, as well as Marcia Salazar-Valentine, Executive Director of International Programs, and Mark Seals, Director of the School of Teaching and Learning.
The exchange program began in 1983 when Lester Barber, then chair of the BGSU English Department, made contact with his counterpart from XISU. That person, Sun Tianyi, who later became president of XISU, was invited to campus, where he interested many people in a country that had only recently re-opened to the West after many years of isolation and turmoil. Americans were eager to learn more.
The first exchange of faculty began in 1983-84. BGSU’s pioneers were Wally Pretzer, SueEllen Campbell and John Calderazzo from English, as well as Adelia Peters from the College of Education. In fall 1984, President Paul Olscamp and Barber traveled to Xi’an to negotiate and sign an exchange agreement, aspects of which continue to this day. With the help of many people, including Wally Pretzer, Barber coordinated the exchange program until 1997, when Tim Pogacar, chair of German, Russian and East Asian Languages, took over.
Over the years, it is estimated that more than forty BGSU faculty/staff members and graduate teaching assistants have taught at XISU. In addition, at least thirty other BGSU faculty and administrators have made shorter visits. In the same time frame, more than forty faculty members from the English Department at XISU have come to BGSU to pursue graduate study and teach or work in University departments. In addition, a small number of BGSU students have gone to XISU to study the Chinese language. During the last few years, other exchange arrangements have also developed between the two universities. Two years ago, for example, a group of XISU teachers spent several weeks in a training workshop in the College of Education and Human Development.
The reunion celebrated long-standing friendships sustained over many years, as well as the depth of cultural understanding that has developed between the Chinese and Americans. The reunion also served to reinforce the commitment of the two universities to continuing their longstanding cooperative agreement.
There were two consistent themes as exchange participants spoke during the program: the gratitude of XISU people to the BGSU faculty who taught them at XISU and in Bowling Green, and the feeling among BG faculty and staff that their experience teaching in Xi’an has changed their lives, both personally and professionally.
