UNIQUE Connections
Western Michigan University Remembers
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Memorial on Campus |
Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo has several exchange programs with various schools in Japan. One particularly close exchange began over forty years ago as a result of a tragic accident.
In 1962, in spite of the high exchange rate of 360 yen to a dollar, Keio Gijuku University sent more than sixty students to a WMU summer program. Upon completion of the six-week study the students had time to enjoy a summer holiday. Then, tragedy struck when one of the students – a lively, cheerful woman, beloved by the entire community – sadly lost her life in an auto accident.
Through their grief her host family, the university and the citizens of Kalamazoo established a scholarship fund in her honor, to sponsor a student from Keio University to Western Michigan University each year. After ten years, the funds were depleted but the universities refused to allow the program to end. They joined forces and together developed an exchange program to carry on her legacy, which continues even today.
- Information provided by Michitoshi Soga, Professor Emeritus
Western Michigan University