Nationally Competitive Scholarships: Serving Students and the Public Good

5. Student Ambassadors in the Age of Anti-Americanism

5 StudentAmbassadorsintheAge ofAnti-Americanism CAROL MADISON GRAHAM Carol Madison Graham holds advanced degrees from Georgetown University in Middle East History and International Relations. She began her involvement in international education as a U.S. diplomat. She moved to London in 1995 with her family where she has worked in the higher education, law, and government sectors. From 2002 to late 2006 she was Executive Director of the U.S. U.K. Fulbright Commission. During that time she founded the U.K. Scholarship Network for heads of U.K.-based scholarship organizations and was heavily involved in initiatives to increase diversity of institutions and students in scholarships on the United Kingdom European and international level. She is currently writing a guide to antiAmericanism for the U.S. study abroad community. Ms. Graham serves on a number of boards including the Carnegie U.K. Trust. In 1942 the U.S. War Department saw fit to issue a small booklet to its personnel entitled “Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain 1942.” Although the United States and Britain were allies and one might 35 McCray_ch05.qxd 6/26/07 5:13 PM Page 35 36 • Carol Madison Graham reasonably have expected the British to welcome the Americans, someone in the government wisely recognized that the soldiers (many of whom would be living overseas for the first time) would need guidance. The most impressive part of the book is the attempt to preserve the dignity of the British public from the slight regard of the soldiers coming from a more powerful country, physically untouched by the war and rationing. Detailed explanations touched on why the British were shabbily dressed, why their meals were not plentiful, and why there was potential for bad relations with British soldiers and families over the womenfolk. All of these issues and more are dealt with in an impressive manner that could put most international cultural briefings to shame. Today, thousands of Americans are going overseas for the first time as foreign students, yet are they as well prepared as the solider in 1942? Most cultural briefings—if they even take place and the student attends them— will speak of euphoria, homesickness, culture shock, adjustment, and reentry as though the student were going off in the space shuttle rather than to live in a foreign society. Deeming it impossible to deal with the entire world in a briefing for students setting off to different countries, many campuses with the capacity leave the specifics to in-country briefings. These briefings focus on the nitty gritty: courtesy, language, drinking and dating habits, transport, bank accounts, safety, and of course administration and program content. They may also provide the student with extracurricular events designed to increase appreciation for the host culture . All of this information is crucial and of intense interest to the student , and yet something is still missing. Anti-Americanism has been present for decades in many parts of the world and has intensified due to recent events on the world stage. It has been written about and analyzed by experts who study it, but in many cases are not exposed to it on a daily basis so even if they were in the business of briefing students, they would not know what to say. You have to live overseas to fully understand what it consists of and why it happens. This is obviously difficult for U.S. college advisors, so in the world of upbeat and encouraging student briefings, anti-Americanism is the elephant in the room. We all know it is there, but few know how to deal with it. And deal with it we must because anti-American sentiment is something the student cannot glean from a textbook. Nor does experiencing it necessarily help the student to cope, understand it, or McCray_ch05.qxd 6/26/07 5:13 PM Page 36 touch it as much of it is expressed in the media, leaving the student feeling frustrated. For those who would argue that such sentiments are part of the student experience, and the best thing is to say nothing and let the student “figure it out,” it is important to note that international experience can reinforce stereotypes and negative attitudes as well as eliminate them. Ask any European. The danger of not explaining anti-Americanism properly and arming the student with coping strategies can lead to conclusions damaging to the student’s understanding of and contact with...