Excerpts from the news , Fort Worth Star Telegram, 

April 30,2001

American Airlines Leadership for the Americas

Today's university students . . . tomorrow's global leaders.

"Bringing together people from such different countries to work and share between ourselves is such a wonderful experience, but is only the beginning of building bridges towards unity and better understanding in our American continent. We acknowledge the importance of such a program that is just beginning, sharing our hope in the future generations that will be part of the Leadership for the Americas program. We dedicate ourselves to continue this program in our countries so the leadership network can grow."

-- from the mission statement of the inaugural class of American Airlines Leadership for the Americas Leadership Fellows

American Airlines Leadership for the Americas is an international alliance among eleven universities in eleven countries in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean to develop the next generation of leaders for the global community. American Airlines Leadership for the Americas brings together 55 students each year to exchange information and ideas that help participants gain cross-cultural understanding of the issues and problems of common interest that face the countries of the Western Hemisphere. The program is funded entirely by a major grant from American Airlines.

The president of each participating university selects five students per year to serve as Leadership Fellows. Students, who must be bilingual (English and Spanish) to participate, are nominated by faculty and undergo an on-campus interview process. The participating universities are:

·        Instituto Technólogico de Costa Rica in San Jose, Costa Rica       

 ·    Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru in Lima, Peru

·        Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

·        Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia

·        Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada

·        Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, USA

·        Universidad Andrés Bello in Caracas, Venezuela

·        Universidad Belgrano in Buenos Aires, Argentina

·        Universidad de las Américas (UDLA) in Puebla, Mexico

·        Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago, Chile

·        University of Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Ric

"As the world continues to grow ever-smaller with new developments in communication and information technology, leadership education must be addressed from a cross-cultural and global perspective. This innovative program does exactly that by preparing the future leaders of the Americas. TCU is very pleased to be part of this prestigious international program and very appreciative for the support from American Airlines. We look forward to hosting the hemisphere's most promising young leaders on our campus this fall," said TCU Chancellor Michael R. Ferrari.

 Fort Worth Star Telegram, October 12, 2001

Question and Answer with Four Nobel Peace Prize Winners

On Thursday, the Star-Telegram Editorial Board asked four Nobel Peace Prize winners for their ideas on a lasting peaceful solution to the crisis stemming from September 11.  The laureates were in Fort Worth to participate in the American Airlines Leadership for the Americas international think tank for university students being hosted this year by Texas Christian University.  Norman Boarlaug, 1970 winner, who has worked around the world to improve food production to alleviate hunger:                                       

       Since a lot of this trouble stems from the Third World nations that have been left behind, it's pretty clear that you can't start to build peace on empty stomachs and human poverty and misery.  And all of my life's work, for hte last 56 years, has been trying to do something about htis, not in one country but in many. . .There are no easy solutions to changin those coutnries that have been left bejind to enjoy the privileges that we have in our society.  But you have to start in the areas where most of the people live and work.  

Oscar Arias, 1987 winner, former Costa Rican president whose work led to a Central American peace accord:

       I strongly condemn terrorism and the acts of terrorism of Sept. 11.  Under no circumstance, is terrorism allowed or permitted.  Certainly I do believe that industrialized countries are not addressing the basic challenges that humanity confronts . . .poverty, inequality, hunger, illiteracy, disease, environmental degradation. . .And the reason why this is happening is beause the ethics that prevails is not right.  I don't think we can live a more peaceful 21st century with the ethics of the 20th century.  

 DALLAS MORNING NEWS, November 7, 2001    Students' Mix of Views on Society Gives Forum Some Spice

. . .  The meaning of "democracy" also played a big part in the discussion, the TCU students said.  Many of the Latin American students who came form countries with histories of dictatorships were interested in a strict, representative democracy with a president who does only what the people want.  "The fine line between following the people's directives and governing by polls was heavily debated," student Alonso Sanchez said. . .

      The point is to develop a group of leaders with at least a Western Hemisphere, if not a global, point of view.