Metro International's 2006 Fulbright Awards Dinner

On Wednesday, May 17th, 2006 Metro International hosted its 16th annual Fulbright Awards Dinner at the United Nations. Honored were four individuals who, in the spirit of Senator J. William Fulbright, have furthered peace and international understanding through their lives and work: Cornelius B. Prior (Chairman, Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc. and Fulbright Scholar to Brazil), Robert J. Schweich (Vice President, Burnham Securities Inc. and Trustee, World Learning), Marjory E. Searing (Vice President, Public Affairs, Japan / Asia and Latin America, Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals), and The Honorable Clifford M. Sobel (Former U.S. Ambassador to The Netherlands).

The awards were presented by four Fulbright Grantees: Karma Ekmekji (Fulbright Grantee from Lebanon, Columbia University), Luciana Muniz (Fulbright Grantee from Brazil, New York University), Fabien Riviere (Fulbright Grantee from France, Ramapo College), and Thomas Wensing (Fulbright Grantee from The Netherlands, Columbia University). The awards program included special remarks by Harriet Mayor Fulbright.

The words of the late Senator J. William Fulbright best illustrate the rationale for Metro's work and the remarkable potential of international education and exchange.

I have always had great difficulty since the initiation of the Fulbright scholarships in 1946 - in trying to find the words that would explain persuasively that educational exchange is not merely one of those nice but marginal activities in which we engage in international affairs, but rather, from the standpoint of the future world peace and order, probably the most important and potentially rewarding of our foreign policy activities...

There is a "multiplier effect" in international education, and it carries the possibility - the only real possibility - of changing our manner of thinking about the world and therefore of changing the world. For every university professor whose outlook has been broadened by study in another country, many thousands of students will gain some measure of intercultural perspective. For every business person who has studied in another country, many associates are likely to gain some appreciation of the essential futility of nationalistic economic policies and of the way in which an international division of labor benefits all countries...

The age of warrior-kings and of warrior presidents has passed. The nuclear age calls for a different kind of leadership - a leadership of intellect, judgment, tolerance and rationality, a leadership committed to human values, to world peace and to the improvements of the human condition.

Metro's heartfelt thanks go out to each honoree, the cast of international student volunteers, and all of our supporters who gave to this event so generously. Their contributions provide Metro International with the necessary resources to expand proven programs that make a difference.