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San Diego State University Team Ventures to Cuba, Establishes First Educational Exchange
SAN DIEGO (May 4, 1999) - Cuba has been closed to Americans for the last 40 years, yet the door is beginning to open as the first American-Cuban university exchange program is being established between San Diego State University and the University of Havana (La Universidad de la Habana).
A group from the College of Business Administration at San Diego State traveled to Havana, Cuba, April 26 to May 2, and met with Cuban education and government officials, including Fidel Castro's personal assistant and representatives from the Cuban version of the Chamber of Commerce.
"An exchange program with Cuba is an incredible opportunity for San Diego State students," said Steven Loughrin-Sacco, co-director for the Center for International Business and Education Research (CIBER). "Students will be fully immersed into Cuban culture, taking the same classes, participating in the same activities and living in the same dorms as Cuban students."
Currently, American universities do send students to Cuba for short study tours; however, the exchange program through San Diego State would be much more intensive. The program would allow students to stay in Cuba for a semester or a year to study Cuban culture, language and business practices.
David Earwicker, CIBER managing director; Teresa Donahue, director of international business exchange programs; and Gonzalo Lopez, of the San Diego Economic Development Center and international business instructor, joined Loughrin-Sacco for the trip. They represented SDSU's College of Business, International Business program and Latin American program. The Department of State and the Department of Defense provided the group with a license to travel to Cuba and encouraged the team to pursue university educational exchanges. The group traveled to Cuba with two goals - to establish an exchange between the two universities and to initiate contacts between San Diego and Cuban business officials. Lopez said the experiences and the lessons of the exchange program would benefit the business community, preparing San Diego to conduct business with Cuba if and when the international trade boycott is removed.
"We have a great opportunity to work with the Cubans to reinsert themselves into the world's economy," Lopez said. "Our business people are missing very good opportunities, particularly in biotechnology, telecommunications, real estate development and tourism." Castro studied law at the University of Havana, which was founded 270 years ago. The university's notable programs include law, medicine and biotechnology.
The International Business program at San Diego State University is the largest undergraduate program in the United States. Students participate in study abroad programs throughout the world and most students attend universities in Mexico, Central America and South America. Required foreign language proficiencies and international business internships prepare students to compete in today's international business arena. SDSU was chosen by the U.S. Department of Education, in 1989, as one of the first six CIBER National Resource Centers and has been continually funded ever since.
The College of Business Administration at San Diego State University is the fifth largest undergraduate business program, accredited by AACSB- the International Association for Management Education, in the United States. It is a nationally recognized business college, reflecting the entrepreneurial and international character of the San Diego region, and was most recently listed in Success magazine as one of the "25 Best Business Schools for Entrepreneurs in America."
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