Kent State signs student exchange agreement with Vietnam university
President of Hanoi University Nguyen Dinh Luan shakes hands with President Beverly Warren after singing a contract joining the two universities in an agreement that will allow for exchange students to go between the universities on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015.
September 8, 2015
Kent State officially signed an agreement on Tuesday with Hanoi University, a public university specializing in foreign language training in Vietnam, for an exchange student program and partnership agreement.
President Beverly Warren ,and Hanoi University President Nguyen Dinh Luan, signed the official agreement in the Urban Conference Room on the second floor of the University Library.
The signing is an initial partnership with the departments of Modern and Classical languages and translation, program department and the College of Business Administration, Warren said. The collaboration will also allow for students at Hanoi to study abroad at Kent State’s branch campus in Florence, Italy. Kent State is the second university that Hanoi has partnered with in the U.S.
“I think Kent State University is the very place that not only equips students with professional skills and knowledge but also sharpen(s) their will to be good people in the future,” Luan said.
The agreement also marks a historic moment in the history of Kent State. Earlier in the day, Luan, Dr. Hoang Gia Thu, the dean of faculty of management and tourism, and Nguyen Ngoc Tan, the Director of the International Office, toured the May 4th Visitor’s Center, bringing the events of the Vietnam War full circle.
“Today is about remembering the past and it’s about considering the present and shaping the future,” said provost Todd Diacon. He visited the university in early May and helped lay out framework for collaboration in translation and tourism.
Hanoi University was founded in 1959, after the French colonization of Vietnam as Tan said. The university specializes in language training and tourism but has expanded to include other programs such as IT, said Tan.
Kent State has also expanded many of their existing partnerships such as Dankook University of Seoul, South Korea. The agreement with Hanoi supports the university’s plan to increase international enrollment as a university press release states.
“I wish Professor Warren and all of you (to) unite together and build up the reputation of Kent State not only in the U.S. but also in the world,” Luan said.
Contact Olivia Minnier at [email protected].
