MHC Delegation Heads to United Arab Emirates
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(From
left) Molly Aplet '06, Katie Kraschel '06,
Nicole Tuma '07,
and Emily Freeman '07 (photo by Donna Cote) |
A delegation
of four Mount Holyoke students has been invited by Dubai Women's
College
(DWC) in the United Arab Emirates to run
a leadership training program from December 31 to January 4.
DWC received a grant from the U.S. State Department's Middle
East Partnership Initiative to finance the training. The group,
along with Beth Gibney Boulden, associate director of student
programs, will work with the Dubai Women’s College student
council for four days, exploring opportunities for leadership
within the school and offering a training program that they can
adjust and replicate for their own students.
The MHC students—Katie
Kraschel '06, Molly Aplet '06, Nicole Tuma '07, and Emily Freeman
'07—were selected because of
their leadership experience and expertise in parliamentary procedure.
Kraschel is president of Mount Holyoke's Student Government Association
(SGA) and was captain of the MHC soccer team for two years. Aplet
is SGA public relations officer and served as SGA parliamentarian
for three years. Tuma is chair of the Student Advisory Board
for the Center for Global Initiatives and has served as the
political
action chair for the Association of Pan African Unity, public
relations chair for the Economics Club, and campus liaison
for the Debate
Team. Freeman is the chair of the Model United Nations team.
The MHC delegation
is looking forward to the trip, especially the opportunity to
help DWC students develop an active and participatory
student council that plays an advocacy role for the entire
student body. According to the grant proposal, the MHC student
leaders
will help empower the DWC student council "to teach other
students through assemblies and discussion groups about what
it means to be a female leader, what their role is on campus,
and
how women can begin to change society by working together to
resolve issues and introduce ideas and concepts even at the college
level."
Tuma hopes that the MHC delegation "has room" to make
an impact. "I want to be culturally sensitive and meet
the Dubai students on common ground," Tuma said. Freeman,
who lived in the United Arab Emirates for two years, "wants
to engage the [DWC students] in a conversation about democracy
and
help them figure out what would work best for their situation,
which is very different than ours here."
During a December
13 send-off for the group, Center for Global Initiatives
director Eva Paus urged the student leaders to "bring
sufficient humility, an open mind, and the ability to listen" as
they train the Dubai students. "Make sure the workshop
is interactive and the learning experience is mutual," Paus
said.
"MHC has
empowered me as a woman and as a leader," Kraschel
said. "I hope that we can do the same for the students
at Dubai Women's College." View
the students profiles....
Watch
the abc40 Video Clip
On
the Web:
Dubai Diaries
Blog - Track the MHC Delegation in Dubai
Women’s
Education Worldwide
Dubai
Women's College
On
the MHC Web:
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