As illustrated in the Autumn 2010 issue of New Trail, the University's ties to China are many and varied. Add one more: Augustana Campus has announced a partnership agreement with United International College (UIC), a Chinese liberal arts college in the city of Zhuha, near Hong Kong. The accord extends cooperative alliances between the schools in the areas of teaching, research and student and faculty mobility - instruction at UIC is in English. Then-Augustana Dean Roger Epp, '84 BA, visited UIC in April 2010 and said, "the world is going to have to understand China, and a globally minded campus like ours has a responsibility to give students an opportunity to experience the country and its culture. In some respects, UIC represents a soft landing, an entry-point, for a student going on exchange or for a faculty member considering a sabbatical."
Not only has Augustana "found a strikingly like-minded, collaborative partner in an important country," said Epp, who brokered the deal between the two institutions, "but there is also a historic dimension to it in our centennial year [2010-2011]. I couldn't help but be mindful that stepping into China was stepping into the country that formed Chester Ronning."
Ronning, '16 BSc, '42 MA, '65 LLD (Honorary), was born in China to Norwegian parents and was principal of Camrose Lutheran College - which became the U of A's Augustana Campus - from 1927 to 1942. Ronning also taught in China in the early 1920s and returned as a diplomat after the Second World War, beginning a distinguished Foreign Service career and becoming a long-time friend of Zhou Enlai, the first premier of the People's Republic of China.
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