2005 Speeches

Fulbright 2000 Program Awards

June 15, 2005

Dr. Roy L. Austin
United States Ambassador
Reception and Presentation of Awards
Guardian Life Corporate Centre
Westmoorings

SALUTANTS

Thank You Robb. For Those Of You Who Have Not Met Robert Skinner, he is our Embassy’s Public Affairs Officer.

The Honourable Minister Of Energy And Energy Industries Mr. Eric Williams

The Honourable Minister Of Education Mrs Hazel Manning, represented by Mrs. Sharon Mungroo, Director of Curriculum Development

Governor Ewart Williams, Central Bank Of Trinidad And Tobago, represented By Mrs. Nicole Crooks, Senior Manager, Human Resources & Communications

Members of The Ambassador’s Educational Advisory Board For The Fulbright 2000 Program

Former Sponsors of The Fulbright 2000 Program

Members Of The Academic Selection Committee For The Fulbright 2000 Program.

Mrs. Grace Les Fouris, President, Fulbright Alumni Association Of Trinidad and Tobago (FAATT)

Fulbright Fellows from Trinidad and Tobago and the United States Of America, including recent graduates of the Fulbright 2000 Program and this year’s Scholarship Awardees

Members of the Media

Members of Staff of the U.S. Embassy

Other Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.

We are gathered here today for the 5th Annual Awards Ceremony of the Fulbright 2000 Program.

While there is a feeling of celebration in the air, created in large part by Guardian Life’s lovely facilities and the expectancy and excitement of those who will be receiving Fulbright Awards, their families and the corporate sponsors of these scholarships, there is, for me, a sense of apprehension at this time. Naturally, I expect to be asked the question: “WHY…?” Before I answer this question, I shall provide some relevant information on these awards.

The Fulbright 2000 Program was conceptualized for the purpose of developing this country’s human resources and by extension, the country. Although the traditional Fulbright scholarships which are wholly sponsored by the U.S. Government were already doing this, we felt that more could be done. Our Embassy considered the Fulbright 2000 Program to be the best vehicle for bringing together two important stakeholders to achieve this goal. These stakeholders were identified as:

1) The country’s best and brightest scholars who would be the recipients of two-year scholarships to pursue Master’s degree programs at U.S. universities and;
2) Corporations that would sponsor their scholarships.

We have had a good measure of success in attracting corporate sponsors and in identifying deserving students; but in order to more closely approach or achieve optimum benefit for the country, we need to substantially increase the number of corporations that are currently involved in this program. The goal is that all the major corporations in Trinidad and Tobago will one day embrace this program; and view it as an avenue for assisting this country in accelerating its efforts to achieve developed country status in as short a time as possible.

So, to answer the question about WHY I am apprehensive today... It is because there are many corporations in this country that have the potential to invest in this program and have not! My Embassy colleagues and I as well as the CEO’s of a few leading organizations that have recognized the importance of investing in this program have knocked on many corporate doors to no avail.

There are, of course, the detractors of this program who argue that the cost of funding one of these scholarships can easily fund more than one student at a local institution. While this may be true, I strongly believe that your nation’s best and brightest scholars must be given an opportunity to study abroad. The United States has one of the most diverse international student populations in the world, and has at some point been the educational setting for many of the world’s leaders both past and present. Scholars from Trinidad and Tobago who attend American universities have an opportunity to measure their academic worth on an international level -- and they usually do very well!

Quite early in my stay in the U.S., I learnt that Ivy League universities sought students who are diverse in many respects. They admit students from different regions and states and from many countries. Their student bodies are also racially, religiously, culturally and economically diverse. They provide opportunities such as “Junior Year Abroad” to allow their students to experience how people in other nations live. Even in disciplines with large faculties, they avoid retaining many of their own undergraduates for their graduate programs. Also, they keep few, if any, of their doctoral alumni on their faculty, exceptions occurring after alumni have spent several years elsewhere. They realize that a provincial educational experience prevents the development of a person’s full potential, and is not in the best interest of the country. These are some of the considerations that encouraged me to pay the much higher cost of having my sons attend universities far from their hometown.

While education in Trinidad and Tobago is excellent, an American graduate education offers several advantages, especially for persons whose education is primarily from local institutions. To illustrate, I shall report partial responses of some of our Fulbright scholars currently studying in the United States whom we asked to describe their Fulbright experience to date:

From Donna Commissiong who is currently pursuing a Ph.D at Northwestern University - you can see Donna up on the screen.

“I am grateful for having the chance to work with some of the best experts in numerical simulations and asymptotic analysis for real industrial engineering applications. My life has also been enriched culturally after living for four years in Chicago. I will be graduating on June 17th 2005 with a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the department of Engineering Science and Applied Mathematics at Northwestern. I have been encouraged by former colleagues from UWI to accept a one year postdoctoral research position with a numerical analysis group working on polymer models at the University of Coimbra in Portugal this September. My intention is to apply for a tenure-track job at UWI in 2006, after I have had more research experience abroad. I feel confident that I will be able to make a substantial contribution to the research done at UWI, thanks to the training and guidance I have received here.

Without a scholarship, I would never have had enough money to pursue a doctorate in the U.S.A. The best way to help the developing world is to educate the citizens of that country, and to then give them the chance to bring that knowledge back home.

I would like to encourage young people to have ambitious goals, and to believe that they can also make a contribution to their country with their hard work and dedication.”

As you’ve just heard, Donna’s Fulbright experience has even led to a further opportunity for her to do research in Portugal!

From Keisha Coker, a Ph.D candidate at Southern Illinois University, who may be here with us this evening:

“Never before have I been so close to actually understanding and appreciating the differences that exist among peoples from different cultures. Marketing and Management of Information Systems were my areas of academic concentration and the U.S. provided excellent practical opportunities for a genuine understanding of the intricacies of the business world.

I am confident that my acquired knowledge to date will be valuable in promoting the development of business activities in our country, particularly in the area of Marketing.”

Keisha was awarded the Asthagiri Chandra Sekaran Award for the Most Outstanding Woman Graduate Student, 2003 at Southern Illinois. Southern Illinois University has since offered Keisha full funding to pursue her Ph.D studies.

Charlene Roach is a Fulbright student who was invited by her university (Arizona State University) to pursue a Ph.D at the university’s expense following her Master’s degree. Charlene writes:

“My Fulbright experience has been “a dream come true”.

After graduating from UWI, I applied to the London School of Economics and Political Science and was admitted for three consecutive years but because of lack of funding I could not begin graduate studies. The Fulbright scholarship made it possible for me to begin this journey in the USA. The opportunities that I experienced as a graduate student in Public Administration are unbelievable. My training afforded me with cutting edge knowledge about public management, public administration, public-private relationships, and about the non-profit sectors. I gained critical competencies that would enhance my professional development in the classroom and also with on-the-job experience through an internship with the Human Resources Department in the Phoenix Metropolitan area.

I was awarded a graduate teaching excellence award by my university Graduate and Professional Students’ Association.

he Fulbright scholarship opened the doors for these opportunities that I have experienced.

I would like to return to Trinidad and teach at UWI and mentor and train other students in my field and also pioneer other comparable programs like the Preparing Future Faculty Program.”

Indira Rampersad, Ph.D student at the University of Florida, writes:

“Thanks to the Mid-Florida Chapter of the Fulbright Association, I have had the opportunity to visit Tampa, Washington DC and other US cities. This has naturally broadened my horizons and opinions of subcultures within the American milieu reinforced by a vast array of international students within the university community.

I have learned that education is a vital component of this capitalist, entrepreneurial society and that it is as imperative to success in the United States as it is in the Third World.

This experience continues to fascinate, intrigue, bombard and even perplex me. I’m currently sitting in my apartment in the administrative capital, Washington DC, where I am conducting the field work for m y dissertation. Each day I marvel at the fact that I have the opportunity to sit at the center of the globe, the site of international policy and to witness the capacity of this vast superpower to influence the world.

Thanks to Fulbright, this opportunity is no longer a dream in the distant horizon but a reality more than worth experiencing by every student.

I will return to Trinidad and Tobago, not just with a Ph.D in Political Science and the capacity to contribute to the development of the rainbow isle, but with a vast wealth of knowledge.

Moreover, the experience allows for the acquisition of a deeper sensitivity and higher appreciation of a multicultural nation, an invaluable asset for my reintegration into the multicultural society of the twin island republic.”

Finally, Steve Seetahal, a Fulbright 2000 scholar in Economics, sponsored by the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, writes:

“Obtaining this opportunity has opened my eyes to the world, and has allowed me to fulfill my potential. Studying at home has its advantages and the education you get at UWI is undoubtedly world class, but studying abroad presents its unique challenges. It presents situations that makes you mature rapidly and allows you to develop personally.

It allows you to become a more diverse thinker. Interacting on a daily basis with different cultures and sharing the different cultural experiences that each of you bring to the table changes the myopic way in which you tend to look at the worlds. The opportunities to learn and travel are exceptional.

Indeed, the Fulbright experience is invaluable.

It is an instrumental tool in developing the great human capital that the country possesses. In this respect, I hope that it will be wholly supported by the corporate sector for a long time to come.”

Steve, I agree with you, and, there are of course, many more testimonies from our students.

Our Embassy does its best to assist Trinidad and Tobago in addressing many of its problems in the areas of drug abuse, HIV/Aids, and crime; and we have donated boats and large sums of money for various causes. However, our greatest investment by far, has been in the development of this country’s human resource base through programs such as the Fulbright.

Trinidad and Tobago manages to produce brilliant students with the potential of becoming future leaders who can make a valuable contribution to the country’s development. After five years of existence, it is time for the Fulbright 2000 Program to move to a higher level. For a country like Trinidad and Tobago to be a torchbearer in the region as it desires to be, and rightly so, given the wealth of natural resources that abound here, investment in its human capital is mandatory. The Fulbright 2000 program provides this country with the opportunity to make such an investment.

My message this evening to the corporations out there that have the potential but are not yet involved in this program is: “PLEASE SPONSOR A STUDENT NOW”. You can indicate your interest in becoming a sponsor by filling out a card on the table at the back of the room. Rest assured that your investment is guaranteed to yield incredible dividends. It is worth noting that it is mandatory that all Fulbright Scholars return to Trinidad and Tobago for two years following the completion of their studies in the United States.

I thank the previous and present Governments of Trinidad and Tobago, for supporting this program. Both the Minister of Education and the Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education have been members of the Ambassadors Educational Advisory Board which has set policy for the program since its inception in 2000. In the past, the Ministry of Energy has joined with Exxon Exploration & Production Trinidad Ltd. to sponsor two scholarships and the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, one of our current sponsors, has sponsored two scholarships thus far.

As you may know, the traditional Fulbright Program scholarships have been around for many years, being well over 50 years old. The majority of these scholarships awarded to Trinidad and Tobago nationals each year are fully funded by the United States Government.

Today, there are many foreign governments that provide financial contributions to the Fulbright Programs in their countries annually, as a show of their support to the development of their citizens. Statistics taken in 2003 showed that total foreign government support from sixty-three (63) countries was $30 , 430, 972. Trinidad and Tobago is not yet included among these countries.

This evening, I invite the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to enter into a formal arrangement to make an annual financial contribution to the Fulbright 2000 Program in Trinidad and Tobago.

On returning home, Fulbright grantees are encouraged to join the Fulbright Alumni Association of Trinidad & Tobago (FAATT) to continue their Fulbright experience. You will be hearing more about FAATT and its achievements from its current President Ms. Grace Les Fouris who will soon address you.

The Fulbright Program in Trinidad and Tobago has produced many leaders in this society such as, and you can see their photos up on the screen:

Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Principal of The University of the West Indies;

Dr. Rhoda Reddock, Head, Centre for Gender and Development Studies, The University of the West Indies

Dr. Hollis Liverpool, The Mighty Chalkdust! (I’m sure many of you didn’t know that Dr. Liverpool is a Fulbright Scholar)

Her Honor Sandra Paul, Chairman, Environmental Commission of Trinidad and Tobago

Mrs. Caroline Alexis-Thomas, who was recently appointed as Coordinator of the Coalition for a Tobacco-free Trinidad and Tobago

Dr. Myron Chin, university lecturer, former President of the Fulbright Alumni Association of Trinidad and Tobago and a recent appointee of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to provide technical leadership on Disaster Management.

Senator Dana Seetahal, a Lecturer at the Hugh Wooding Law School

Before I end, would all Fulbrighters please quickly come to the front of the room. This also includes the recipients of scholarships for 2005 under the traditional Fulbright Programs who will be leaving shortly for the United States.

(PAUSE FOR FULBRIGHTERS TO ASSEMBLE)

These people represent just a small number of Trinidad and Tobago nationals who have the potential to do great things for this country. Again, I urge the corporations and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to join forces with us to help increase the numbers for the good of this country. It is in your hands……….

Ladies and gentlemen………I THANK YOU.