The Institute for Global Leadership announced that its summer program in China and Hong Kong, the Tufts Institute for Leadership and International Perspective (TILIP), was given the go-ahead after being cancelled last summer and facing financial challenges this spring.
"It's been approved and we're going forward with it," Institute for Global Leadership Director Sherman Teichman said.
Funding for the program came from "a combination of generous alumni from the program, who have donated thousands to this, as well as from the administration at [the Institute for Global Leadership and Hong Kong alumni]," Teichman said.
Previous financial problems stemmed primarily from the appearance of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China and Hong Kong last summer, forcing the Institute to cancel the program. The absence from Hong Kong and China last summer had weakened some of the relations between the Institute and their financial partners abroad.
Teichman said that this summer's program will not be very different from previous trips. "We plan to keep things intact, especially with the internships and travel," he said.
All but one student who originally planned to take part in this summer's program will continue to do so.
Students who participate in the TILIP program work with other students at the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Peking University in China. Past activities have included team-building exercises, research, and internships with native students.
Upon returning to Tufts, TILIP participants keep in touch with the Chinese students and, in the past, have held an international symposium on their experiences.
- by Allison Roeser
