Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday!

Tomorrow is our spring International Students’ Day celebration and our campus, like many others across the U.S., is not as international as it used to be. Regardless of one’s perspective, the numbers speak for themselves; U.S. colleges and universities experienced a 17% drop in enrollment of new international students this past fall. Indian students constitute the largest number of entering international students in most universities, and their numbers have declined by 60% nationally. Many other countries saw similar declines in their numbers. Here at S&T, we are experiencing a significant drop in international student applications and enrollment as well.

Interestingly, S&T has welcomed international students since its inception, and many have become lifelong ambassadors for our university. In fact, international students have been Miners since the 1880s. By 1909, students from 14 different nations had found their way to Rolla. Our first international student, Guadalupe Garcia from Meir, Mexico, enrolled in 1882, 12 years after the establishment of the university. In 1892, our first Japanese student, Zantaro Iijima joined the university to study electrical engineering. While at S&T (then known as MSM), Zantaro became a charter member of the MSM Electrical Club and made a presentation to members on a “System of Wiring for Electric Lighting.” He was active on campus, joining the Mining Club and serving on a committee that organized the 1893 commencement ball. After graduation, he returned to Japan but remained in communication with the university for the rest of his life. 

Today, S&T is home to 843 international students – 641 graduate students and 202 undergraduate students – from 76 countries around the world.

Since those early days, our university has welcomed international students who have gone on to become engineers, scientists and politicians of global status. To highlight a few, Héctor Boza of Peru came to Rolla in 1907, received a bachelor’s degree and went on to serve as an engineer, corporate leader, politician and the first vice president of Peru. Bipin Doshi, a terrific alumnus, came to campus from India, and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 1962 and 1963, respectively. Bipin went on to become a successful corporate CEO, returning to campus some 60 years later with a $10 million gift to his alma mater.

Another remarkable alumnus is Dr. Farouk El-Baz, who came to S&T from Egypt and received a master’s degree and a doctoral degree in geology and geophysics in 1961 and 1964, respectively. Dr. El-Baz helped NASA identify the Sea of Tranquility as the Apollo 11 lunar module landing site. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, he later returned to campus as a commencement speaker in 2011 and highlighted that his S&T experience helped him become secretary of the lunar landing site selection committee and trainer of all Apollo astronauts.

Mariana Rodriguez came to S&T from Lima, Peru, and returned to her country after receiving her civil engineering degree from S&T in 1980. She became an educator and helped found two universities and two technical institutes in Peru. Mariana returned to visit the campus last year and was inducted into S&T’s Academy of Civil Engineers.

Given the current global geopolitical tensions, many of our international students are experiencing a wide range of emotions. All the yin and yang, fear-fueled push and pulls of the world can isolate, but hopefully not insulate us from the needs and aspirations of each other. 

To our international students, I say, you may feel that you have reached a defining moment. Perhaps painful and uncertain now, but pivotal in the long run, we understand that this defining moment is shaping your future as well as ours.

As an international student of the past and an ambassador for higher education now, I know firsthand that our international students today, our global ambassadors of cultural understanding, help us understand each other. This shared understanding is critical to the safety and security of the world since we fear what we don’t understand and fight what we fear.

After all, and after all that has been said and done, as an old Gaelic proverb beautifully states, “In the shelter of each other the people live.”

Warmly,

-Mo.
 
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Read previous Friday morning messages.

Check out the latest news from S&T:

• Happy belated Earth Day!
• Missouri S&T chemist first woman to earn the Galvani Medal
• Congratulations to alumnus Lister Florence, elected City of Rolla Mayor

Mohammad Dehghani, PhD
Chancellor
mo@mst.edu | 573-341-4116

206 Parker Hall, 300 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409-0910
chancellor.mst.edu