Roy Bodden, president of the University College of the Cayman Islands, recently returned from United Nations headquarters in New York City, where he represented UCCI at the launch of the UN Academic Impact initiative.
UCCI is one of more than 400 institutions from more than 80 countries, which have joined the initiative as charter members.
In his opening remarks to the presidents, rectors and chancellors of the institutions represented, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, “Much has been written and said about corporate social responsibility. Today, we are also seeing the emergence of a stronger culture of intellectual social responsibility. That is the spirit the United Nations Academic Impact seeks to embrace and encourage. We hope to help educate young people about the complex, transnational issues of our time and cultivate a global mind-set and a keener sense of global citizenship.
“We would like to empower students and faculty to take their learning beyond the classroom and to their friends, families and communities. We want to bring the ideas and proposals generated by institutions of higher learning in to the global arena, including the United Nations’ system. We want, in short, the United Nations Academic Impact to promote a movement of minds to engender change.”
Ten principles underpin the academic initiative. They are a commitment to:
human rights, among them, freedom of inquiry, opinion and speech
educational opportunity for all people regardless of gender, race, religion or ethnicity
the opportunity for every interested individual to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for the pursuit of higher education
building capacity in higher education systems across the world
encouraging global citizenship through education
advancing peace and conflict resolution through education
promoting sustainability through education
addressing issues of poverty through education
promoting inter-cultural dialogue and understanding
the unlearning of intolerance through education.
Participating institutions are asked to undertake one activity each year and to actively address, at least one of the ten principles during that time. President Bodden welcomes the opportunity for UCCI to become a part of this initiative, according to officials at the university.
After consulting with the UCCI community, the president expects to involve UCCI in actively pursuing these principles which will involve taking of advantage of the contacts made with other institutions during the launching ceremonies.
“Memberships in the United Nations Academic Impact can only serve to broaden the focus of scholarship, innovation and ideas already present on UCCI’s campus. In addition to this, such membership will make our homes, communities and consumption patterns socially and environmentally sustainable,” said Mr. Bodden.
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