Kenyan government and American HBCUs, including those in Atlanta, sign partnership agreement

Kenyan President William Ruto made Atlanta his first stop on his official state visit to the United States and the city’s historically black colleges and universities are taking advantage of the trip.

During a visit to Spelman College on Tuesday, Ruto’s government signed an agreement with the United States to establish an exchange between Kenyan universities and HBCUs. The framework agreement was signed by representatives from Spelman and Morehouse colleges and Clark Atlanta and Howard universities, as well as higher education and business leaders from both countries.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

The aim of this framework is to improve the education of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, commonly known as STEM, in both countries and to support economic development.

“We still have some details to work out in terms of partnership, but you know, what we really hope is that our students will have the opportunity to go and learn in Kenyan schools, and Kenyan students will have the opportunity here,” said Spelman President Dr. Hélène Gayle told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Our faculty will have the opportunity to research together and build partnerships in this very important area of ​​STEM and technology,” she said.

The relationship between Kenyans and American higher education dates back more than 60 years when then-U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy helped fund young Kenyan leader Tom Mboya’s project to bring students from his country to study in the United States.

From 1959 to 1963, hundreds of Kenyans attended American universities, including Barack Obama Sr., through what are sometimes called airlifts.

“By following in the footsteps of the historic airlift, we will empower a new generation of disruptive thinkers, ambitious visionaries and innovative problem solvers, and thereby usher in a brighter, knowledge-driven future where progress transcends barriers. borders, transforms lives and brings prosperity. Ruto told the audience of Kenyan and American leaders gathered at Spelman.

This is not the first time an Atlanta HBCU has established relationships with African universities. In 2022, CAU was part of a group of HBCUs that signed a partnership with the World Bank and its African Centers of Excellence.

Last spring, Clark Atlanta University President George French and its counterpart at the University of Lomé in Togo signed a memorandum of understanding between the two schools for exchanges of professors and students and to collaborate in research such as poultry farming. French also visited the University of Ghana and said CAU would work with the university in cancer research.

Ruto’s visit to the United States

Ruto arrived in Atlanta on Monday for the first leg of his trip to the United States. He will meet with President Joe Biden in Washington, D.C., on Thursday for the first state visit by an African leader under the Biden administration.

“President Ruto’s visit to Atlanta reflects the city’s growing global importance and underscores its central role in America’s progress toward a more inclusive democracy,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Ruto’s trip comes as his country prepares to soon deploy police officers to Haiti, according to the New York Times. Kenya is leading a UN-backed mission that will bring together 2,500 police officers from a coalition of countries to try to quell violence in the Caribbean country.

“As I speak to you, Kenyan security officials are in Haiti discussing how we can help the Haitian people to also be part of the future by ensuring that this country is stabilized,” Ruto told Gayle Tuesday during a fireside chat.

He also spoke about his hopes for the recently signed educational framework, his country’s ambitions and its relations with the United States.

“The future is slowly but surely becoming a global village. Whatever happens in America, whatever you want to do, it will influence what happens in Kenya and whatever happens in Kenya, one way or another, will end up in America,” he said. -he declares.

“Therefore, the sooner we build bridges through initiatives such as this education, the better it will be to have a freer, healthier, safer and much more prosperous world for all of us. »

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