BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

19/07/2006

Southwestern College establishes center for Belorussian studies

by Lainie Mazzullo

Southwestern College, a Winfield-based institution that has three locations in Wichita, has opened a center devoted to Belorussian studies.

According to Southwestern officials, this is the first such center in the United States.

The center is being established with financial support from alumnus David H. Swartz, the first U.S. ambassador to Belarus.

In 1996, Swartz became president of the European Humanities University Foundation Inc., a group he founded to support the European Humanities University in Minsk, Belarus.

The foundation has since dissolved, prompting Swartz to provide initial funding for the new center at Southwestern.

The goal of the center is to promote the revival of Belarus through higher education.

"The center will be a place for dialogue, discussion, outreach, awareness and education about the country of Belarus," Southwestern Academic Vice President Andy Sheppard said in a press release.

Source:

http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/wichita/stories/2006/07/17/daily13.html