University President Msgr. Robert Sheeran called the connection between the United Nations Association of American/United States of Ameica and Seton Hall “a great partnership” at a UNA luncheon in the Walsh Library rotunda Monday.
The luncheon was part of the annual all-day retreat for the executive board of the UNA. It was the first time the event was held at Seton Hall.
John C. Whitehead, former deputy secretary of state and the namesake of the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, was present at the event.
Father Paul Holmes, interim director of the school of diplomacy, gave the blessing. Ten Seton Hall diplomacy students were also invited to the luncheon after being selected by their professors.
“It was really nice to be invited. I sat next to the UNA representative from D.C.,” junior Emily Ruskin said. “It was nice to sit next to someone who tries hard to get Congress to listen to the U.N.”
Linda Karten, public relations officer for the School of Diplomacy, said the UNA has helped students obtain internships and set up workshops at the school. It has also brought several high level speakers to the campus and given students a chance to see what happens inside the United Nations.
According to Karten, the UNA even implemented a weeklong summer workshop which involves not only Seton Hall undergraduates but students from around the world. Karten said that by 2007, Seton Hall hopes to build a center on campus which will be dedicated to researching and studying the United Nations.
“The school tries to promote opportunities for students to engage with people who actually work in international relations,” she said.
Karten said the school has experienced substantial growth since its inception eight years ago.
“We have had a lot of growth in a short time. A lot of the students are here because of UNA. It’s an opportunity to study and for exposure,” she said.
She referenced the special relationship Seton Hall has had with the UNA since the its former chairman, Whitehead, helped found the School of Diplomacy. The school was later re- named after Whitehead, a well known international philanthropist and former chairman of Goldman Sacs.
“I’m so proud to have my name attached to this school,” Whitehead said. “It’s the only school to teach internationalism, teaching students to work for the entire world not just the U.S.”
Sheeran also said how proud he was of the multi lateral approach the school uses and praises its great initiatives.
“It’s important for students to realize there is a world beyond the U.S,”said Monsignor Sheeran.
The UNA, which was founded over fifty years ago, works to build a stronger relationship between the United States and the United Nations. According to its Web site, it is the nation’s largest grassroots foreign policy organization and the U.S.’s leading center of research on the United Nations and global related issues.
It promotes American leadership in the United Nations and more awareness about the U.N. function’s for Americans.
“The UNA does a lot of good work, they have a global outlook in this time of Iraq and unilateralism,” Ruskin said.
|