Recognizing the School for International Studies at St. Michael's College

RECOGNIZING THE SCHOOL FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES AT ST. MICHAEL'S COLLEGE -- (Extensions of Remarks - July 21, 2004)

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, every day the media bombards us with stories about how dangerous the world is. War and terrorism are, tragically, a part of our modern condition. Yet this picture of international antagonism is so incomplete as to give us a false picture of the globe we inhabit. Fortunately, there are continual efforts, heroic efforts, to bring people together.
In fact, though often unrecognized by the mass media, international cooperation and efforts at mutual understanding take place every day. It is important that we recognize those who do the essential and heroic work of building the bridges that unite the international community.

Today I want to recognize the fine work of the School for International Studies at St. Michael's College, a private liberal-arts college in Colchester, VT, as the school celebrates its 50th anniversary. During the past five decades, over 15,000 international students have studied English at the St. Michael's campus in Colchester.

Founded in 1954 with a small program that taught four students from Puerto Rico, Quebec and Colombia, the program quickly grew to include students from 20 countries.

In 1957 the program welcomed 100 Hungarian refugees, known as Freedom Fighters for their 1956 uprising against Soviet troops, to the campus to learn English. The program was so successful that in 1962 a master's degree in Teaching English as a Second Language (MATESL) was established. Today, the School for International Studies has a worldwide reputation as a leader in language teaching pedagogy.

By the 1970s the program was teaching language students from over 40 countries around the world.

Nor has the growth and scope of the program slackened in current years. Recently the program has welcomed its first students from Vietnam and Egypt, and has developed partnerships with institutions in Poland, Thailand, Greece, and Colombia. Students from more than 65 countries have studied in the Saint Michael's School of International Studies.

This week Saint Michael's College President Marc vanderHeyden presided over a celebration of this 50th anniversary, joined by speakers from some of Saint Michael's partner schools, Kanazawa Technical College of Japan, the Hellenic-American Union of Athens, both the International Christian University and Surugadai University of Tokyo, and the Gimnasio Vermont of Bogota.

To St. Michael's College, and to its School for International Studies in particular, a proud state and proud Nation say: Congratulations on working for half a century to bring people together and to build better communication between nations. We wish you well for the next half-century as you continue this vital work.