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November 2, 2000 Ms. XXXXXXX Dear XXXXXX: "U.S. News and World Report" recently confirmed what a small women's college in Pittsburgh has known for more than a century - Chatham College produces "world ready women." According to the magazine's annual college rankings, 131-year-old Chatham ranked 4th in the nation based on the percentage of students who study abroad. How does one of the nation's few surviving (in fact, we're thriving) women's colleges outrank places such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton on global education? Well, it's a priority for us to send our students packing - across the world, that is. For every Chatham sophomore, we make it as easy as choosing a destination - for instance, Ireland to study politics, or Belize to study history and environment. The countries and topics change every year but the idea is the same - study the country during first-semester classes, visit the country with Chatham faculty during January Interim (Chatham pays for all but $600), see yourself and your culture in a global perspective. It's not surprising that many students go abroad again, some to study, and some to perform service-learning projects - for example, at the L'Hopital Albert Schweitzer in Haiti. Before they graduate, 70 percent of Chatham women will have studied abroad. We also bring other parts of the world to Pittsburgh. Each year we focus on a world region through a yearlong campus-wide study called Global Focus. Special courses, class assignments, speakers and cultural events highlight the region's history and culture. During the Year of South Asia, for instance, India's premier botanical artist Arundhati Vartak spent a week on campus working with students and giving public lectures. As part of this year's focus on Ireland, Sinn Fein's Minister of Education Martin McGuinness will visit campus later this month. These are just two highlights of hundreds of events held during the last six years. Now more than ever, the study abroad ranking and Chatham's unique international initiatives are important. Why? � President Clinton has just created an initiative to increase global education in the United States. While the rest of the nation plays "catch-up ball", this college is preparing women to be workers and citizens in today's global society. If you are interested in developing a story on how one small college has managed to lead the country in international education for its students, I will be glad put you in contact with Chatham students, faculty and alumnae who can tell you how their lives were changed from trips abroad and share their dramatic stories from around the world. I will contact you in the next week or so to explore the possibilities, but in the meantime, please feel free to call me at 412-365-1140 or e-mail me at <mclaughlin@chatham.edu>.
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