BY | ERIN PETERSON SCHEMATIC DESIGNS BY | BRUNER/COTT

Chris Fletcher ’05 discovered his passion for Tibet and human rights while traveling around sun-scorched southern Asia for several months after high school. While there, he spent time with a Tibetan host family, who explained how the tensions between Tibet and China made them feel as if they didn’t have a place to call home.

He was still thinking about Tibet when he arrived at Macalester, wondering how he could make a difference from half a world away. Almost by chance, he discovered a group called the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota, which offered volunteer opportunities. He soon began tutoring Tibetan
high school students and teaching computer classes to Tibetan elders. He signed up for a religious studies class called “From Tibet to America.” And he received a Watson Fellowship to spend the year after college traveling around Asia photographing Tibetans who were working to preserve their
heritage and traditions.

Fletcher says his classroom work, community service, and world travels gave him a perspective
on Tibet that was far deeper and more nuanced than any one of those things could have given him alone. The romanticized view he’d once held of Tibetans became more grounded as he learned about their history, religion, and current life. “I took my experiences outside the classroom and analyzed them in the classroom. I saw how they connected with other things,” he says. “And I used that knowledge to help guide my real-world experiences.”

Merging the seemingly disparate spheres of academics, civic engagement, and international experience is the goal of Macalester’s Institute for Global Citizenship (IGC), which was just getting off the ground as Fletcher graduated in the spring of 2005.

The idea behind the IGC was simple: As the world grows increasingly interconnected—these days, even order-taking at fast food drive-throughs is getting outsourced, and corporations have outposts in dozens of countries—students must have a clear understanding of the ways their world links to places thousands of miles away. The more they see those connections, the more valuable they’ll be as future workers,
volunteers, and leaders. By linking the missions of several offices on campus, from the Civic Engagement Center to the Study Abroad Program, the IGC helps students connect the work they do abroad with the work they do at home, whether it’s in the classroom, as a volunteer, or on the job.

Though the IGC has thrived despite being separated into several locations on campus, a new central facility will bring attention—and much-needed physical space—to the grand ideas behind the Institute itself.

This spring, ground was broken for a state-of-the-art IGC building, which will bring new life to the northwest corner of Snelling and Grand avenues. The three-story building will house two of the institute’s core programs and will link to others in an adjacent building. More important, the building will help promote Macalester’s strong history of—and commitment to—internationalism and civic engagement. Located in the heart of campus, it will be accessible not just to students and faculty, but to the rest of the community as well.

Macalester President Brian Rosenberg believes that such a building is increasingly important for today’s students, who must consider themselves citizens of the world. “Our hope is that both the building and what goes on inside will capture the core of Macalester,” he says. “It’s about responsible citizenship
and local, national, and international perspective.”

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE, FUTURE GOALS

Macalester has been promoting the ideas of service and global citizenship for more than a century. As early as 1900, Macalester students traveled the globe for mission programs through the Presbyterian Church. The idea of internationalism got a boost in 1939, when President Charles Turck arrived on campus with a goal of “advancing the cause of the international spirit.” He planted a United Nations
flag on campus in 1950, when the UN was still a fledgling organization. “Internationalism and civic engagement have always been an important part of the college’s identity,” explains Ahmed Samatar, dean of the IGC. “We have been in the business of internationalism for 70 years, and we have great ambitions."

Computer-generated images of the IGC, view from Grand Avenue

"Cohesion is so important. When you have people in the same place they'll bring together the different pieces in a more valuable way." —Ahmed Samatar, Dean of the IGC.

In 2005, Macalester took another leap forward when it conceived of the Institute for Global Citizenship. The umbrella organization brought together International Programming, the International Center, the Civic Engagement Center, and the Internship Office. By merging programs with both local and global perspectives, Macalester could show that becoming a global citizen starts at home. “When we hear the word global, we often jump to something that is far away,” says Karin Trail-Johnson, associate dean of the IGC. “But we want students to understand that they are rooted somewhere. They have commitments to their community and to others.”

Students will reap the benefits of the new facility, whether they’re looking for the perfect internship, a class that changes their perspective on another culture, or a volunteer opportunity abroad. Panel discussions on key world issues that might otherwise have been tucked into a corner classroom will have prime real estate in the central IGC building. And new programs will flourish as faculty and administrators combine resources and ideas to further enhance student learning.

The new building means that Macalester’s commitment to civic engagement and internationalism, which has long been a central part of its identity, will become tangible.

DESIGN OF THE TIMES
The new IGC building, which will replace the one-story Winton Health Services facility, will have a gray limestone exterior and large windows. Its 17,000 square feet will include student gathering spaces, conference rooms, staff offices, classrooms, and a dazzling three-story indoor courtyard designed for meetings and social events. It will have a “living room” with comfortable chairs and tables. And it will include a link to its neighboring facility, Kagin Commons.

The IGC building will also house and showcase the significant work done on internationalism and civic engagement by students, professors, and alumni, says Trail-Johnson. Students are already busy creating and cataloguing a library of data and images collected from community research projects. “This is a place where we can create a sense of institutional memory of people like [former vice president] Walter Mondale ’50, [Common Roots Café founder] Danny Schwartzman ’04, and [Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity president] Sue Haigh ’73,” she says. “We can show what students are doing, what alumni are doing, and tell the story of the impact that people have. It inspires students to do more when they see who has come before them. It gives them a sense of gratitude and a vision and purpose if they realize they are walking on the shoulders of others.”

It seemed logical that the visionary nature of the Institute should also be represented in the structure itself. “The building merged two ideas—internationalism and sustainability—that are very visible and
important on campus,” says David Wheaton, vice president for administration and finance. “It became an opportunity for us to think about taking a leadership role.”

To achieve that goal, Macalester worked with Bruner/Cott, a Massachusetts architectural firm known for its pioneering work in sustainable building and design. They created a design that would meet the highest possible standards for responsible environmental stewardship (see sidebar “Taking the LEED”). That meant doing more than just using sustainable building materials and energy-efficient heating and cooling systems. It meant deconstructing the old building with a minimum of waste, recycling as many of its components as possible, and positioning the structure near public transportation. Thoughtful window design and placement take advantage of abundant natural light to minimize the need for artificial lighting. Exceptionally tight design will reduce heating and cooling costs.

This conscious effort to consider the building’s environmental impact will benefit the people who spend time in it every day, says Wheaton. The air inside will be cleaner, and the climate will be more consistent. “All of the design elements are intended to make the building comfortable for the occupants,” he says.

BUILDING ON IDEAS
When the new IGC opens in summer 2009, it will be a hub of activity. The center will house long-standing programs, such as the renowned International Roundtable, as well as new programs launched as a result of the IGC, such as the concentration in Global Citizenship.

Students will head to the IGC for information about off-campus study, including the Institute’s innovative offering in Maastricht, the Netherlands. “It’s an intense and highly rigorous experience in comparative
globalization,” notes Samatar, who leads the program. The yearlong experience sends students to an international destination of their choice during the first semester to study a particular topic—government or human rights, for example. In the second semester, students convene in Maastricht, where they examine the same phenomenon in the Netherlands while studying at the university there.

Trail-Johnson hopes that students also will develop a sense of the interconnectedness of local, national, and international communities through their work with the Civic Engagement Center. “We want to teach
them how nonprofit organizations, government, and businesses work here. And that’s something they can translate to wherever they go next— whether it’s just across the street or halfway around the world,” she says.

Samatar believes the new building will become a home for serious local and national discussions. “My hope is that it will be a place in which community and state leaders gather to talk about important concerns,” says Samatar. “A place where new collaborations can take place, where the campus, the community, and businesses can interact.”

LOOKING AHEAD
Administrators are confident that the building will inspire its occupants to dream up new programs, events, and ideas. “Cohesion is so important,” says Samatar. “When you have people in the same place—not in all different corners of the campus—they will bring together the different pieces in
a way that will be more valuable than what they could do apart.”

Chris Fletcher, for his part, believes that the more opportunities students have to connect their international experiences to their civic service and academics, the more likely they are to continue doing work they started at Macalester. He provides a case in point: After finishing his Watson Fellowship,
Fletcher worked for 18 months at the International Campaign for Tibet. He now coordinates programs for the federal government’s International Visitor Leadership Program, where he helps people from around the world connect and share their professional experiences. “Everything I’ve done,” he says, “has built on what came before it.”

DAYTONS GIVE LEAD GIFT TO IGC

Philanthropists Ruth Stricker Dayton ’57 and her husband, Bruce B. Dayton, have committed $3 million toward the construction of the Institute for Global Citizenship (IGC ). The Daytons’ commitment is the lead gift for the IGC . “Macalester has a long tradition of attracting and educating students of extraordinary talent and character,” say the Daytons. “Tomorrow’s leaders are being forged at Macalester today, and the Institute for Global Citizenship will play a crucial role in preparing them to embrace their futures.” So far, $6.5 million has been raised toward the $7.5 million goal for the IGC building. The IGC is being constructed without assuming debt.

DAVIS GIFT TO THE IGC

Philanthropist Shelby M.C. Davis has issued a $1 million matching challenge grant to assist with completion of fundraising for the Institute for Global Citizenship building. The Davis challenge will match all new commitments at a 50 percent rate so, for example, a commitment of $100,000 will be matched with $50,000 from the Davis Challenge, yielding a total of $150,000. This is in addition to Davis’s $13.5 million gift for need-based
scholarships.

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP AWARD

Hector Pascual Álvarez (Alcala de Henares, Spain) has been named the 2008 Global Citizenship Student Award winner. This award, sponsored by the Institute for Global Citizenship, is presented annually to the graduating senior who best demonstrates a commitment to the ideals and practice of strong academic performance, internationalism, multiculturalism, and civic engagement. In addition to an extensive application process, the three finalists for the award gave oral presentations on their views of global citizenship. Pascual Álvarez, a double major in international studies and theater, receives a monetary prize, certificate, and gift. His name will be added to a permanent plaque commemorating each year’s award recipients. Pascual Álvarez also won a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship this spring.

GLOBAL STUDENT COUNCIL
From day one, students have played an integral role in developing the IGC

For many, the first shovelfuls of dirt scooped from the corner of Grand and Snelling last May at the official groundbreaking for the Institute for Global Citizenship looked like a starting point.

But for recent graduate Momchil Jelev ’08, that groundbreaking felt more like the finish line. Jelev has been working on aspects of the Institute since his freshman year, when it was little more than a big idea.

He was immediately intrigued. The Sofia, Bulgaria, native was a member of the Model United Nations team and was planning to declare a major in international studies and political science. The Institute seemed like an ideal new venture for his interests.

By fall 2006, he was fully immersed in the new program. He’d enrolled in the IGC ’s “Globalization in
Comparative Perspective,” in Maastricht, the Netherlands. And he’d also begun serving on the IGC ’s
student council, a liaison between administration and students.

The council began developing programs to raise the profile of the IGC . For example, this past semester, the council created an ambitious three-part series about the Iraq war. Student council members encouraged professors to talk about the war within the context of the material they usually teach, and they hosted an event in which veterans with an array of perspectives shared their thoughts about Iraq.

“It was a great debate,” Jelev recalls. “It was completely civil and very enriching. And it presented points of view that we don’t always hear much about on campus.”

Engagement in the IGC will grow even stronger when people can connect the programming with a
physical space, says Jelev. Although he probably won’t be around to see the finished product, he’s convinced the results will be significant. “We want to expand the programming, and the building will help make that more visible,” he says. “We have big ambitions, and I believe the building will help us deliver them.”

TAKING THE LEAD

SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES ARE AT THE CORE OF THE NEW IGC BUILDING

"We want to teach students how nonprofit organizations, government, and businesses work here. And that's something they can translate to wherever they go next—whether it's just across the street or halfway around the world."
—Karin Trail-Johnson, Associate Dean of the IGC

When Macalester administrators started talking about a building to house the Institute for Global Citizenship, they were already thinking big. Thinking green, says President Brian Rosenberg, was the next logical step. “If you’re going to create a building devoted to the idea of responsible citizenship, then it seems appropriate to demonstrate responsible citizenship in building it,” he says.

To find appropriate benchmarks, Macalester and its architects looked to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC ). The council developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LE D) Green Building Rating System, a nationally recognized program that scores buildings on 69 different criteria, including elements such as water-efficient landscaping, energy-saving heating and cooling systems, and environmentally friendly adhesives and sealants.

The new building has been designed to earn platinum certification, the highest among the four levels created by the USGBC . “We decided if we were going to do this, we ought to do the best we possibly can,” explains David Wheaton, vice president for administration and finance.

While the design is exceptional, the building will not receive an official LE D designation until after it has opened and undergoes an official commissioning process. If all goes well, the Institute will become one of just a handful of platinum-certified buildings in the state of Minnesota.

Wheaton hopes that Macalester isn’t the only beneficiary of the new building. “We think there is going to be a rising amount of interest in construction that’s more energy efficient and sustainable,” he says. “We believe that a lot of people will want to come to see it—to see how it was put together and how it works. We hope this will be an example for people to follow.”