Eight Tufts students attended a conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) during Spring Break. The conference aimed to promote connections between prominent women leaders young and old.
The first annual conference, which occurred Mar. 14-16, was entitled "Women as Global Leaders: Educating the Next Generation." The Tufts students present were among over 500 delegates from 40 different countries, including nations such as Iran and Somalia.
"A lot of cultural and social pre-conceptions that we had [of the Middle East] - they just weren't true," freshman Jessie Berlin said. "It was eye-opening because I'd never been there before."
The three-day conference was held at Zayed University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) - the first women's college in the country. The Tufts delegates also visited the second Zayed campus, which was located in the U.A.E. capital of Abu Dhabi.
According to Berlin, the success of the trip came from simply "being there."
"Having conversations over lunch, having those normal interactions stood out the most, because you can always go to lectures at Tufts," she said.
Internationalism was emphasized at the conference. The delegates were students and professionals "[including] people from all over the world - a strong female presence and strong Middle Eastern presence," Berlin said. "Still, [speaking] English wasn't an issue."
Berlin said that the lectures in Dubai were of great interest.
The group attended keynote lectures by women including Tipper Gore and Gro Brundtland, the former Prime Minister of Norway and Director of the World Health Organization.
"[The keynote speakers] were mostly about their life stories, about how they got to where they are now," sophomore Amanda Fencl said. "They were more helpful than the panels, which were student presentations."
The conference was sponsored by Zayed University, along with Microsoft and CNBC. According to Berlin, the U.A.E. government also contributed to the conference.
"[Zayed University] put the thing together in five months, which was remarkable," Berlin said.
For the Tufts students who participated, other funding for the conference was subsidized from a variety of campus sources, though none from a specific academic department.
"The departments we talked to were hesitant because it wasn't a research trip," Fencl said.
The eight girls received a personal check of over $6,000 from recently-appointed Tufts Trustee Agnes Varis. The Institute for Global Leadership also donated $200 to each traveling delegate, leaving them to only cover about $400 themselves.
Funding for the trip all came together just before the delegates left for Dubai. "It was down to the last minute to find the funding," Fencl said.
The group plans a public campus forum where they will discuss their trip with all interested. They also plan to return to next year's conference, to be hosted at Abu Dhabi.
