U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton remarks at launch of the 100,000 Strong Foundation

Text of her remarks available on the State Department website.

Secretary Clinton's Remarks on International Education

Secretary Clinton Delivers Message for International Education Week 2011

Changes to Iranian Student Visa Validity press statement by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

Farsi subtitled version below



You can read Secretary Clinton's comments here.


More on this development via the following US Dept. of State media note: "Changes to Visa Validity for Iranian Student Applicants in F, J, and M visa categories"

Secretary Clinton's remarks at the Inaugural Meeting of the Advisory Committee for the 100,000 Strong Initiative

You can read a transcript of Secretary Clinton's remarks here and read a Fact Sheet about Advisory Committee on the 100,000 Strong Initiative here.

Watch live today as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launches "100 Women Initiative: Empowering Women and Girls Through International Exchanges"

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will launch the “100 Women Initiative: Empowering Women and Girls through International Exchanges” today (Monday, March 7) at approximately 1:45 p.m. Watch live on http://www.state.gov/.

Following the Secretary’s remarks, Counselor and Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills and Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer will participate in a conversation with the “100 Women” moderated by Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs Ann Stock.

Citation: March 4, 2011 U.S. State Department press release.

Photo credit: U.S. State Department

Remarks of Secretary Hillary Clinton, Under Secretary Judith McHale and Assistant Secretary Ann Stock at the National Council of International Visitors (NCIV) reception celebrating the 50th anniversary of citizen diplomacy at the State Department.

In case you were unable to watch the live feeds of Secretary Hillary Clinton, Under Secretary Judith McHale and Assistant Secretary Ann Stock  from the National Council of International Visitors (NCIV) reception celebrating the 50th anniversary of citizen diplomacy at the State Department I have embedded them below:

Live Webcast Celebrating 50 Years of Citizen Diplomacy with Hillary Rodham Clinton, Judith A. McHale & Ann Stock

Live Webcast Celebrating 50 Years of Citizen Diplomacy with Hillary Rodham Clinton, Judith A. McHale & Ann Stock

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Schedule (all times EST)

8:30am: Assistant Secretary Ann Stock
12:45pm: Under Secretary Judith McHale
6:15pm: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

Tune in at http://exchanges.state.gov/live-stream.html

Secretary Clinton's remarks to Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants

You can also view the video online as well as read the transcript of Secretary Clinton's [December 9, 2010] remarks here.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Video Remarks for International Education Week 2010

Secretary Clinton Encourages Americans to Host Exchange Students

Recent Comments by Secretary Clinton and Under Secretary McHale Relating to International Educational Exchange

This week and next week I had planned theme weeks (publishing in the field of international education and teaching, learning and scholarship in the field of international education) but I'm unable to find my publishing grid.  These themed weeks would end with my remaining two video interviews I took during the NAFSA annual conference.  I'll blame this oversight on the NAFSA annual conference, then back to a crazy work schedule for a week, then a week vacation at Disneyland and then my dissertation proposal defense...I hope to find this grid soon and I hope they posts live up to the hype!

In clearing out my IHEC Blog Gmaill account I have found many things to post about here on IHEC Blog, to IHEC Blog's Facebook page and to Twitter and I hope those following me on all of these spaces are finding both interest and value in the content I'm posting.

For this post I wanted to highlight and provide links to remarks by United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to students from the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program (YES) which you can read and watch (11:18) here and remarks by Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the United States Department of State Judith McHale at the reception for International Fulbright Science and Technology Fellows which you can read here.

Video of the Week – Secretary Clinton’s Remarks at Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for SA-5

For this video of the week I selected Secretary of State Hilary Clinton speaking at the ribbon cutting ceremony for SA-5 [State Annex 5] which is the new home of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. During her remarks, Secretary Clinton touched on international educational exchanges by saying "I’m very pleased that there seems to be a terrific sense of teamwork. We’re moving forward with our tried and true exchange programs and cultural initiatives, and we’re building new vehicles for public diplomacy. So it is – it’s exciting and it’s really gratifying for me, by the end of this year, to see all the progress that we are making together."



You can also read Secretary Clinton’s remarks here.

Secretary Clinton Highlights Value of Study Abroad & Educational Exchange at NYU Commencement

Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed the 2009 graduates from New York University at Yankee Stadium. As I watched/listened to her address this morning I was very happy to hear her talk about the value of study abroad and educational exchanges.

I have copied and pasted her relevant remarks here:



“I know that one of your graduates spent months on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro searching for sustainable development models to bring to women and families and help them lift themselves out of poverty. Another of your classmates was studying in China last year when the devastating earthquake struck, and that has led to work ever since to deliver supplies and assistance to villagers in remote areas. International students have gone on to fight for human rights in Rwanda, build civil society in the nation of Georgia, run businesses, and lead governments.”

“I hope many of you will join our ranks in the Foreign Service and the Civil Service, but I know that not all will choose to become professional diplomats, and I also know that the State Department alone cannot tackle these great problems. So my message to you today is this: Be the special envoys of your ideals; use the communication tools at your disposal to advance the interests of our nation and humanity everywhere; be citizen ambassadors using your personal and professional lives to forge global partnerships, build on a common commitment to solving our planet’s common problems. By creating your own networks, you can extend the power of governments to meet the needs of this and future generations. You can help lay the groundwork for the kind of global cooperation that is essential if we wish, in our time, to end hunger and defeat disease, to combat climate change, and to give every child the chance to live up to his or her God-given potential. (Applause.)

This starts with opportunities for educational exchanges, the kind of dorm room and classroom diplomacy that NYU is leading on. I want to commend my friend, your president, the trustees of this great university, for understanding and believing in the importance of educational exchanges.

You know, study abroad is like spring training for this century. It helps you develop the fundamentals, the teamwork, and the determination to succeed. And we want more American students to have that opportunity. That’s why we are increasing funding for Gilman scholarships by more than 40 percent. More than 400 New Yorkers have used Gilman scholarships to spend a semester abroad, including nine students from NYU last year.

Now, of course, study abroad is a two-way street, and we should bring more qualified students from other countries to study here. NYU provides a prime example of what international students can bring to a campus and how they can benefit themselves and their countries. Over 700,000 international students came to the United States last year, and NYU had the second largest number of any school in the country. (Applause.)

Now, the benefits from such exchanges are so great that I am committed to streamline the visa process – (applause) – particularly for science and technology students so that even more qualified students will come to our campuses in the future. We’re also doing more to marry technology with global service. That’s why today I am pleased to announce that over the next year the State Department will be creating Virtual Student Foreign Service Internships to harness the energy of a rising generation of citizen diplomats. Working from college and university campuses, American students will partner with our embassies abroad to conduct digital diplomacy that reflects the realities of the networked world. And you can learn more about this initiative on the State Department’s website.”

You can read the text of Secretary Clinton’s address here.

President Obama’s commencement address at Arizona State University was also very good as well (despite him not being accomplished enough to be awarded an honorary degree) but it was Secretary Clinton’s address at NYU that shined yesterday (at least from my perspective).

Middle East Partnership Initiative

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a new scholarship program under the Middle East Partnership Initiative. This new scholarship is a four-year program that will provide ten scholarships for disadvantaged Palestinian students to attend Palestinian Universities with an additional twenty five “opportunity grants” for disadvantaged Palestinian students to attend institutions of higher education in the United States or in the Middle East.

The Chronicle of Higher Education published an article on this new scholarship of the Middle East Partnership Initiative on their News Blog. There was a strong reaction to this new scholarship and it seems the Chronicle capped the predominately negative comments at 325. I haven’t read most of the comments but most seem to criticize the Obama administration and Hilary Clinton for starting the Middle East Partnership Initiative in these challenging economic times. To be sure, criticism and concern directed towards President Obama and Secretary Clinton for funding this new scholarship given the current health of the U.S. economy may be warranted. My concern, however, is that many of the comments are directed at President Obama and Secretary Clinton for establishing the Middle East Partnership Initiative.
According to the Middle East Partnership Initiative website:

“The U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), was established by then-Secretary Powell on December 12, 2002, to create educational opportunity at a grassroots level, promote economic opportunity and help foster private sector development, and to strengthen civil society and the rule of law throughout the region… Since 2002, MEPI has devoted more than $530 million to over 550 projects in 17 countries and territories through its offices in Washington, Tunis, and Abu Dhabi. MEPI investments are in addition to billions of dollars in bilateral assistance the U.S. provides annually to the Middle East.”

I can respect one’s opinion on funding this new scholarship or on the Middle East Partnership Initiative itself regardless of the position they take on the topic as long as their argument is formed by more than an article in a news paper. A simple internet search brings you to the State Department website where one can learn that the Middle East Partnership Initiative was established over six years ago during the Bush Administration.

You can link to the Middle East Partnership Initiative here.

Reestablishing The Peace Corps Program in Indonesia

During the February 5, 2009 daily press briefing at the U.S. Department of State, Robert Wood, Acting Spokesman, answered a question about Secretary Clinton’s interest in reestablishing the Peace Corps program in Indonesia (which was cancelled after two years of operation) by saying that this is something that she will be looking this possibility. This fits well with President Obama’s campaign pledge to double the number of Peace Corps volunteers.