Internationalization of ACU
Richard C. Levin, a former president of Yale University who is recognized as one of the leaders of American higher education, is well known for his proposal of internationalization of American universities. During an interview with the Financial Times in 2007, he pointed out that our leaders in political and financial sectors often make decisions that are offensive to people of other cultures. He saw this “insularity” to be a failure of higher education in America. His proposal of internationalization of American universities as a solution to this failure is to expose our university students to other cultures and people, learn to respect them, and work with them without offending them. Naturally, the internationalization of Yale was one of Levin’s priorities and distinct contribution such that the ratio of international students during his twenty-year tenure had more than quadrupled, and Yale has established scores of research and teaching partnerships with institutions abroad.
As an immigrant and educator I wholeheartedly agree with Levin’s proposal. If we are to be serious about ACU’s mission “to educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world,” we need to invest our effort and resources to internationalize ACU through invigorating exchange programs and securing at least one study abroad center in every continent so that our students may have ample opportunity to experience the world, meet people of different cultures and languages, broaden their perspective to rid of their “insularity,” and eventually make lasting contributions in this world. Richie Elmore’s Korea-China Mission Reflection I know the effect of this internationalization from my own experience as well. Coming to America has been a great blessing for me to experience and appreciate different cultures and people. I honestly believe that had I stayed in Korea, I would not have become who I am today. No one in my family was a Christian, and none of my siblings except the eldest attended college. It is coming to the States that opened the door to Christianity and higher education for me. That is why I have been taking students to Korea and China for Summer mission work so that they may encounter different cultures and people, broaden their perspective, grow intellectually and culturally, and even participate in the mission of God. Bobbie-Jean West, for example, had never been outside of the US before I accompanied her to Korea and China in the Summer of 2014. I organize these mission trips to Korea and China, provide free lodging and food for them in Korea, and fund not only my trip but also partially fund some of my students’ expenses with the hope that more of my students get to see God at work in other parts of the world and become partners with God.
Likewise, I have been deeply involved in bringing international (specifically Korean) students to ACU by working as a liaison to establish academic cooperation between ACU and Korea Christian University, the only Church of Christ affiliated university in Seoul, Korea, and two institutions signed on a MOU in 2014. MOU between ACU & KCU 2014 As of yet, no ACU student has gone to KCU as an exchange student. Two KCU students Ha-young Kim and Hasseung Chung took the advantage of this MOU and studied at ACU in 2014. The KCU students successfully completed their one-year exchange program at the end of last school year and returned home. ACU also hosted ten ESL students from KCU in June-July 2016. This semester we have two students from KCU studying on our campus.
I was also instrumental in bringing two KCU professors to ACU as visiting scholars. Dr. Hyun-Joo Lee (professor of music) and Dr. Sang-Chul Lee (professor IT Management) spent their sabbatical year on our campus successfully and returned home in February 2015. Letter from Dr. Hyun-Joo Lee I also recommended the Hamiltons to Dr. Shinbae Park, president of KCU, and James Kim, chair of KCU board of trustees so that they could spend their sabbatical semester at KCU and Yeonsei University in Seoul, Korea. This exchange of faculty and students will strengthen the relationship between our two institutions and benefit constituents of both institutions. During our recent visit to the Society of Biblical Literature International Conference in Seoul, Korea, KCU’s James Kim made a proposal to give land for us to build a study abroad center. Greg Sterling of Yale, Randy Chesnutt of Pepperdine, John Fitzgerald of Norte Dame, Ken Cukrowski, Mark Hamilton and I were present. Hopefully, our Board of Trustees and administrative leaders will seize this opportunity to internationalize our university more fully. Besides providing services in university committees that I was part of, the aforementioned services are my unique contribution to equipping our students to live integrated, Christ-centered lives of service and leadership” as our faculty mission indicates.
Letter from Ken Cukrowski about ACU’s Relationship with KCU
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