Why American colleges should be developing global citizens

This March, I traveled to Barcelona as a member of the Rice University Global Urban Laboratory program to gain information for my research on healthcare systems around the world.

Though I went to gain insight on the Spanish single-payer public healthcare system, I left with an understanding of prevalent issues faced all across Europe: the tension in NATO and EU alliances, the current refugee crisis, the impact of European social safety nets on the economy, among other topics.

I was fortunate enough to travel with like-minded students who value cultural enrichment, but we live in a time where America seems to be creeping more and more into isolationist safe havens. Many Americans fear that engagement with and unbridled acceptance of cultures from around the world means being subservient to global interests.

But as we enter an era of unprecedented opportunity and global connectivity, we have a chance like never before to lead the fight against the problems facing our world. It is my belief that American leadership in a global community requires engagement with and understanding of that community.

Can universities like Rice do something about this?

As student body president, I recently called for Rice to join others around the country and accept qualified Syrian refugees. I did so not just because American leadership and action in one of the biggest humanitarian crises of our time is the right thing to do, but because providing cultural enrichment opportunities for all students should be a priority in American higher education.

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Why? When universities accept students from around the world, we provide these students with a world-class education and encourage investment in the U.S., but we also give American students an opportunity to gain from understanding the intricacies of other cultures – a global perspective that is crucial if we expect the U.S. to lead the world well into the 21st century.

It is valuable for students around the world to view the U.S. as a nation worth investing in, a nation where one's talent and hard work will breed results. However, we should also be encouraging students to view the rest of the world as a hotbed of opportunity. Increasing Chinese engagement with American social media sites like Facebook and Twitter helps America stay connected. Selling American pharmaceuticals to countries around the world in order to curb disease helps Americans when epidemics spread. Exporting environmentally friendly American cars to countries looking to reduce their own carbon footprint solidifies American leadership in advancing green technology.

We must understand that honest multicultural understanding, not just passive tolerance, is essential if we intend to be successful in any of these ventures.

Banker Walter Wriston once said, "Capital goes where it's welcome and stays where it's well treated." This approach invites global investment, but also combats anti-American sentiments outside our shores. Every great civilization has viewed themselves as the center of the world – Rome, Egypt, China. But these civilizations also had a profound understanding of other cultures. Speaking the language of other nations, recognizing what social taboos might sour relationships and understanding the cultural norms of other countries predicated their massive success. In short, American exceptionalism and American isolationism are mutually exclusive. You can't come out on top of a system, a global economy, you distance yourself from.

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To ensure that all future transactions – economic, social, cultural – are conscious and serve American interests, universities should foster discussion and critical thinking in a global context. For some universities, this might mean bolstering language requirements. For others, it might mean requiring a semester or summer abroad for students or encouraging foreign students to come to the U.S. for exchange programs. However it's done, global competency should become an important centerpiece of university curricula.

As we ask ourselves what it means to be educated, we must be open to the changing nature of this definition. As universities and students alike come to grips with conversations regarding the value of STEM degrees compared with those in the humanities, the value of a liberal arts education, the importance of encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation in college and even the role universities play in sexual education, global competency should enter the discussion as a cornerstone of American education of the future.

Justin Onwenu is the president of the Rice University Student Association.

Bookmark Gray Matters. It views itself as the center of the world.