Spanier returns from African journey

He's back.

University President Graham Spanier returned Feb. 13 from his two-week trip to South Africa in time to make an appearance at the 1997 Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon before he resumed his work in Old Main.

The purpose of Spanier's trip was to visit four universities in South Africa that Penn State has had cooperative relations with, he said.

Spanier journeyed to University of Pretoria, University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, University of Cape Town and University of the Western Cape.

"My meetings were with leaders of all the universities, with faculty members who have had relations with Penn State or who wish to have relationships," he said.

Spanier said he wanted to visit an international university with ties to Penn State.

"Penn State is a very international university," he said. "We have relations all over the world."

Spanier visited South Africa first because he and other University officials said they feel that it is one of the most important ties they have in the world.

The University has had cooperative education ties with South Africa since the 1980s, Spanier said. When apartheid was overturned in that country black South African students who had University ties emerged as leaders in that country, he said.

"Penn State has a very major presence in that country," Spanier said.

And the University has numerous joint research projects with the South African universities. More than a decade ago, Penn State began a program with South Africa called SHARE, which is based on the University's commitment to promote academic exchange between it and South African academics.

"It's amazing in such a short period of time, the universities have become so much more integrated," he said.

Some administrators from South African universities want to visit Penn State to find out how the University functions in matters such as fund raising, Spanier said.

Spanier also made a stop in Ghana during his trip across the Atlantic, he said, because the University also has academic relations with the University of Ghana.

If he can fit it into his hectic schedule, Spanier said he would like to make similar University-funded trips each year. No plans to visit another international university have been made yet, he added.

Although Spanier said everyone at the University was supportive of the trip, at least one person outside of the University said he was not.

State Rep. John Lawless, R-Montgomery, said he knew nothing about the trip, initially, but that it does not surprise him that such a trip was planned.

"We just have to work for a living. We don't get to take trips," he said, adding that the taxpayers have to foot the bill for Spanier's African journey.

Spanier hopes his experience will more than pay for itself at the University with more educational exchange programs, he said.