Media Relations
News Releases
For Release Upon Receipt - May 22, 2002
Contact:
Kevin Carleton, 617/353-2240, carleton@bu.edu
DELTA AIR LINES TO HELP SUPPORT BOSTON UNIVERSITY AFRICAN PRESIDENTS PROGRAM
Boston, MA — Delta Air Lines, Inc. has agreed to provide travel support throughout the United States for the first Balfour African President-in-Residence. The Balfour Residency is a program of Boston University's African Presidential Archives and Research Center. Delta will provide the Center with 12 first class domestic ticket vouchers to be used by the first Balfour President-in-Residence, a former democratically elected head of state who will spend a year in residence at Boston University, teaching and advising on policy issues.
On the importance of the gift, the Center Director, Ambassador Charles Stith, said, "Historically, African heads of state have confined their trips to the United States to inside the beltway in Washington DC or the UN in New York. This grant gives us the opportunity to ensure that whoever we bring in has the latitude to go from Atlanta to Albuquerque, from Detroit to Denver, from Houston to Harlem, from Newark to Nashville."
The first participant in the Balfour President-in-Residence program will be named later this summer and will begin at the University in September. The former president will teach one course each semester over the coming year, help establish a collection of archival material on Africa, and play a central role in the Center's efforts to help inform American leaders about policy issues and needs relating to democratization and business development in African countries. The former head of state will travel extensively throughout the United States to meet with government officials and business leaders, as well as with school and civic groups.
The African Presidential Archives and Research Center is led by Charles Stith, former U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania who assumed his diplomatic post in the traumatic period following the August 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam. Ambassador Stith worked tirelessly on two fronts: to rebuild the mission and restore the confidence of his staff, and on the broader issue of promoting U.S. trade and investment in Africa.
"As ambassador, I saw how important it was for the leaders and citizens of one nation to understand those of another in order to build solid and productive relationships. The President-in-Residence program aims to do just that in this country, and our efforts to broaden Americans' understanding of African nations will be far more fruitful thanks to the generous support of Delta," said Stith.
The Atlanta-based Delta joins with other institutions that have offered support to the African Presidential Archives and Research Center, which was established last year. The Massachusetts-based Balfour Foundation, under the administration of FleetBoston, announced a $1 million grant earlier this year to help support the President-in-Residence program, and CNN International has agreed to provide a complete tape library of its weekly "Inside Africa" program.
The Atlanta-based Delta joins with other institutions that have offered support to the African Presidential Archives and Research Center, which was established last year. The Massachusetts-based Balfour Foundation, under the administration of FleetBoston, announced a $1 million grant earlier this year to help support the President-in-Residence program, and CNN International has agreed to provide a complete tape library of its weekly "Inside Africa" program.
— 30 —
