BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

07/03/2005

William Tracey: Cultural ambassador to Belarus

By SCOTT WHIPPLE, The Herald Press

In August, William E. Tracey Jr. will become a cultural ambassador to the Republic of Belarus. An associate professor and chairman of the department of management and organization at Central Connecticut State University, Tracey has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for traditional lecturing. He will lecture in the capital city of Minsk on Comparative International Business and Entrepreneurship.

Belarus, once called "White Russia," holds a unique position as the "borderland" between Poland and Russia. It has business advantages in location, a stable (if oppressive government), a high education level and low cost for manufacturing.

Tracey and his 16-year-old son, Patrick, leave for Belarus next month. Under the Fulbright Scholarship, Patrick will study classical guitar at the State Academy of Music in Belarus.

Last summer, Patrick lived with a family in Minsk for two weeks. The family had a son Patrick's age who visited Connecticut and lived with the Traceys for three weeks.

"I'll never forget watching Patrick getting on a Belavia flight from Rome to Minsk alone," Tracey says. "I was sad to see him go, worried about him and incredibly proud he was taking those steps on his own. His first few e-mails were 'it's different here.' He traveled around Minsk with his new friends, learned the Russian alphabet, played sports and spent five days in a camp which included children from Chernobyl."

A joke in the Tracey family is that the real reason Tracey is taking Patrick this time is that his son learns Russian more quickly and Tracey needs him as an interpreter.

But, says Tracey, he has a more serious reason.

"I believe there's a future with the U.S. and a business relationship with Russia," he says. "And it will have to be with Patrick's generation."

Father and son will return in ten months, the long way home. Their return route will take themacross Siberia, through Mongolia and South to China. There, Tracey plans to visit former Chinese students who studied under him at Central.

Tracey's wife, Karen Cole Tracey, is chairperson of computer networks and graphics at CCSU. He says she encouraged him to return to Belarus with Patrick.

"My 14-year-old daughter, Mikka, is heartbroken she can't go," Tracey says. "Culturally, it's a lot easier for a young man than a young woman. Guys over there go to the Russian baths --- not really a place for a teenage girl with men sitting around in sheets drinking beer."

As a "Fulbrighter," Tracey will receive a monthly stipend, his travel and living expenses will be paid, plus money for books and instructional materials. His son's tuition is included.

In return, the Fulbright committee expects Tracey to speak and write about his Belarus experience when he returns, and to support the Fulbright program by promoting American values.

These contrast sharply with Belarus.

"Some visiting scholars get sick and tired of their apartment being bugged," he says. "I've had my room tossed, and I've been followed by guys carrying machine guns, especially when I'm taking pictures."

He cautions that visiting Americans need to be prudent in their use of language.

"I wouldn't make any speeches about democracy or overthrowing their president who Condileeza Rice described as 'the last dictator in Europe,'" he says. "I'm not political; I'm there to conduct business."

Tracey wants to continue his professional development as a professor of international business by participating as a Fulbright Scholar. For the past six years he worked with several schools in Belarus, in program and curriculum development; guest lecturing; teaching a credited MBA course; visiting local businesses and advising on case study development.

Editor's Note: Part 2 of 'Cultural ambassador to Belarus' will appear in Monday's edition of The Herald.

Scott Whipple can be reached at swhipple@

newbritainherald.com

Source:

http://www.newbritainherald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14798984&BRD=1641&PAG=461&dept_id=10110&rfi=6