Alumnus Samuel Lee was behind Texas A&M University-Kingsville’s visit to National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) this summer. The delegation, which arrived on June 9th (2023), was led by Dr. Oi Yee Monica Wong-Ratcliff of the Faculty of Teacher and Bilingual Education and Dr. Elvira Sanatullova-Allison of the Faculty of Educational Leadership and Counseling. At the school, a special Taiwan-US cultural exchange was held at the IH Building under the banner of “2023 Hi Taiwan”.
Samuel Lee graduated from the NPUST in 1976 after completing his studies in Agriculture Machinery Engineering. Lee, who is currently the executive director of the GSJ Foundation, is also an alumnus of Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Acting on his hopes of bringing his two Alma Mater’s together for an exchange, Lee sponsored 7 teachers and students from Texas A&M University-Kingsville for a 10-day visit to Taiwan, and also arranged the “2023 Hi Taiwan” exchange lectures at NPUST.
During the event, NPUST Dean of International Affairs Vincent Shih said “I am very happy that everyone is here today to participate in the ‘2023 Hi Taiwan’ Taiwan-US cultural exchange lecture series. I would also like to thank our alumnus, Samuel Lee, for bringing the teachers and students from Texas A&M University-Kingsville for this time of exchange at NPUST. It will be a great learning opportunity for the teachers and students of our school; and I hope that the visitors from Texas A&M University-Kingsville will not only have a wonderful time in Taiwan, but will also bring home very precious memories”.
Samuel Lee said, “thank you to the NPUST Office of International Affairs for carefully arranging the activities. We hope that NPUST and Texas A&M University-Kingsville can develop a bilateral understanding and build relations—and that through the lectures, Q&A, and discussions, we can promote better multicultural development.”
Dr. Wong-Ratcliff said “using lectures on different themes to share, discuss, and interact with the students of NPUST will not only allow us to get an understanding of the topics of discussion, but will also help enhance international exchange”. During the exchange, two students from the Department of Bilingual Teaching, Victoria Vazquez and Cerelia Diaz, gave talks and interacted with students from Taiwan. Based on their own learning backgrounds, the students shared on Taiwan’s current situation, culture, and educational issues. The Q&A discussion was a time of good communication and interaction, and allowed students to stimulate each other’s thinking as they explored different viewpoints.
The Office of International Affairs specially arranged a day of field trips for the guests, during which they visited the Working Dog Training Center and the Center for Environmental Protection, Safety and Health. The visitors also got to experience cloth dying and wood craft activities. The chock-full itinerary gave the American students a chance to get acquainted with the environment at NPUST, while hopefully also helping them to enrich their understanding of Taiwanese culture. Hopes are that after they return to the United States, they will be able to share and promote the beauty of Taiwan for others to see. NPUST expressed its gratitude to Samuel Lee for his efforts in bringing together the successful international exchange, and both parties look forward to more academic exchanges and cooperation in the future.
