EMU launches Ambassadorial and Consular Corps Liaison Office to cultivate international connections

It's a big world out there, but one new office on campus aims to bring it closer.

The Ambassadorial and Consular Corps Liaison Office (ACCLO) was launched in September to create internships for EMU students, build partnerships and connect EMU to international communities in Michigan and abroad.

INTERNATIONAL GALA: Some members of EMU's faculty pose with Midori Takeuchi (front row, second from left), deputy general counsel of Japan, and Nurten Ural (standing, far right), honorary consul general of Turkey, during the Ambassadorial and Consular Corps Liasison Office's International Gala at the Student Center Ballroom during October.

"Today, more than ever, our students are entering an international world," said EMU Provost Jack Kay. "The opportunities that arise from learning about different cultures and different countries are just so important.... Today they need to be citizens of the world, not just citizens of a country or a community."

The office evolved out of conversations between Honorary Consul of Spain Coral Lopez-Gomez and Rosemary Weston-Gil, department head of EMU's World Languages Department. Lopez-Gomez, who teaches languages at EMU and the University of Michigan, and is program chair of the Consular Corps of Michigan (CCM), envisioned a natural partnership between the Corps and the university community. She and Weston-Gil presented the idea to Kay, who jumped on board without hesitation.

"The consuls were very enthusiastic about having the academic link," Weston-Gil said. "It's part of their consular mission to develop not only the business connections, but also academic and cultural ones."

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