The Center for International Education Hosts 40th Reunion

By David Evans, Professor, Director of CIE

Alumni came to campus from China, Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, Nepal, Colombia, Senegal, and Namibia, as well as from all over North America, to join graduates and current students on June 12 - 14 in celebrating the School of Education’s Center for International Education’s (CIE) 40th reunion.

They represented the more than 260 doctorates and 350 Masters degrees earned by CIE students in 40 years. Many CIE folks couldn’t attend because they were working or traveling overseas on assignment – part of the reality of CIE’s world-wide network.

The CIE network is much more than an alumni association – it is more of a professional community that interacts daily around the world with graduates working together who didn’t know each other in Amherst, but who share a common set of values and ways of thinking about education.

The reunion brought together those with 30 or more years of experience in development with recent graduates just returning to their careers and facing the challenges of education in the many post-conflict settings in the world today.

At a small opening reception, people who hadn’t seen each other for 10 or 20 years yelped with delight upon recognizing old friends. A full day of conference activities took place on June 13. CIE joined the School of Education’s Centennial Marathon with presentations on Palestine, Afghanistan, Senegal, and an adult education evaluation project in New England

Saturday morning’s plenary session addressed by William Smith, currently the executive vice-president of the Academy for Educational Development, combined a visually creative PowerPoint presentation with some pointed criticisms of efforts to reform education, both domestically and internationally. Comments by discussants and the audience led to a lively dialogue that took the rest of the morning. Saturday afternoon brought sessions organized around three strands: global issues affecting education, education in fragile states, and adult education and literacy.

A gala banquet on Saturday night, supported by the Graduate School and the School of Education, was intentionally informal with a variety of entertainment hosted by George Urch, Professor Emeritus. Graduates from each decade shared some of their memories of being at CIE along with some roasting of the current Director of CIE who was celebrating 40 years with CIE as well. The climax of the evening was a hilarious skit written by Vachel Miller, loosely based on the story of Don Quixote in the guise of Don Freire in his battle with the forces of hegemony and capitalism and featuring some thinly disguised CIE personalities in a gently roasting light.

Sunday morning was a final plenary session addressed by Dwight Allen, the former Dean of the School of Education, under whose leadership CIE was created by a group of returned Peace Corps Volunteers and others sitting under a tree at the Colorado retreat. Dwight challenged us to address the future facing international education by embracing the potential of new technologies to help build educational opportunities that offer both quality and equity. A lively discussion ensued until the weekend concluded at lunch on Sunday and folks departed, stimulated and reinvigorated to face the challenges of their work in international education. In a closing comment Dwight said, “Thanks for all you've done to keep the dream alive.”