From the director's desk . . .

Dear ELI Friend,

Director Scott G. Stevens

This has been a year of much change at ELI. In December, the Institute launched its first development campaign -- a multi-year program to raise money from alumni and community supporters for our "Thousand Voices for Peace Scholarships." This was our response to the events of September llth -- to foster peace by equipping students with the necessary language and cross-cultural skills to dispel the bigotry and ignorance upon which terrorism feeds and grows. In January, the Institute joined the University's College of Human Services, Education and Public Policy (CHEP), and we happily found ourselves among colleagues who shared our commitment to community outreach, cross-discipline collaboration, innovation and international education and exchange. In June, ELI began working with CHEP's School of Education to coordinate its graduate program in Teaching English as a Second Language, drawing upon our faculty's 17 years of experience conducting teacher training for language teachers from over 40 countries.

There was, however, a more profound change that swept through ELI -- one that was felt, rather than seen. There began to emerge a strong sense of community spirit within our little global village -- a desire of colleagues and students to reach out and show compassion. The ELI family to which I so often refer seemed closer than ever. Former students I hadn't heard from in over 10 years began writing and e-mailing, and this continued throughout the year. The outpouring of affection and concern warmed my heart, and as I reflected on the images and events of the Institute during this past year, I heard the sweet, raspy strains of the great Louis Armstrong, as he immortalized the song "What a Wonderful World." Allow me to share my memory album with you, as "Satchmo" serenades in the background:

It's the first day of the session. During my orientation meeting with some 50 new students (all strangers to each other), I ask them to look around the room and take note of the ambassadors from from 35 different countries. As they do, I capture that moment of surpised recognition when they realize that the distant lands they had once only read about have been personified before their eyes, that the world had shrunk to the size of Newark, Delaware.

I see trees of green, red roses too,
I've seen them bloom for me and you.
And I think to myself, "What a wonderful world."

For two weeks, before and between classes, students and teachers crowded around available TVs to ride the emotional roller coaster of the World Cup - the spirit of national pride bursting forth. But they saved their real passion for the "Global Warriors," ELI's own intramural (and nearly undefeated) soccer team - one team of many nations and races - the perfect metaphor/or a warring world in need of peace:

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people passing by . . .

A Japanese student becomes critically injured in an accident only days after arriving in Delaware, and students who had not even met Shiho Nabeshima respond with gifts, cards and donations. Middle Eastern and South American students team the ancient art of origami, as they prepare a thousand paper cranes for good luck. Those of several faiths pray for Shiho and those prayers are answered when she miraculously recovers:

I see friends shaking hands, saying,
"How do you do?"
They're really saying, "I love you."

As I watch graduating students proudly receive their certificates from their teachers, I consider the dozens who have been admitted to graduate or undergraduate programs at the University of Delaware and beyond, the hundreds who will return to their own universities, and others who will land new jobs with their English skills. I am humbled by their courage, determination and fertile minds:

I hear babies cry; I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself,
"What a wonderful world."

This newsletter, prepared with the dedication of Barbara Morris, Wendy Bulkowski, Ruth Jackson, Janet Louise, Russ Mason and so many other ELI colleagues, is our memory book to you. May the new year to come also yield a harvest of rich and joyful memories for you and your family.

And may you cherish anew this wonderful world!"

Sincerely,

Scott G. Stevens
Director