Number 62 | January 14, 2009
The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA), in cooperation with the United Negro College Fund Special Programs, National Congress of American Indians and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, has organized a visit to Turkey for a delegation of faculty from Minority Serving Institutions (MSI), including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribal Colleges and Universities. The visiting delegation arrived in Turkey on January 7 and will remain in Turkey through January 17.
The colleges and universities represented include Bennett College for Women, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, Clark Atlanta University, Florida Memorial University, Howard University, Lincoln University, Menominee Nation, Morehouse College, North Carolina A&T University, Northern Arizona University, South Dakota State University, Spelman College, Virginia State University, Winston-Salem State University and Xavier University of New Orleans.
The purpose of the visit is to build bridges between MSIs and Turkish universities and among other things, promote Turkey as a Study Abroad destination for African American, Hispanic American and Native American students; lay the ground work for faculty and student exchanges between Turkish universities and MSIs; and promote the establishment of African American and Native American studies departments at Turkish universities. TCA spearheaded this effort in early 2008 by establishing a scholarship program with funding for 100 scholarships to aid American minority students to study in Turkey.
During their visit, the delegation was introduced to a significant historical site which links ancient Turkey to the origins of American Democracy. In Patara, on Turkey’s Mediterranean Coast lie the ruins of the ancient parliamentarian building of the Lycian League, known as the Bouleuterion, which was 1800 years ago the meeting place of the first federal republic in recorded history. Not only did James Madison make reference to the Lycian League’s republican governing system at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, but the semi-circular configuration of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives is identical to the seating arrangement in the Bourleuterion of Patara.
In addition to meetings with Turkish universities, the delegation is also visiting Georgetown University’s McGhee Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies in Alanya, Turkey.
