In the wake of the U.S. Presidential campaign and election, we write to let you know that we have recommitted ourselves to enabling global learning for all. We invite you to join us in redoubling our efforts to help all students realize their potential as active, empathetic, and engaged global citizens.

Among the three founding principles of Florida International University, enshrined at the entrance to Primera Casa, is the promotion of greater international understanding. At our FIU, we achieve this by engaging the diverse members of our interconnected campus, local, and global communities in collaborative efforts to understand and address complex problems that transcend borders of difference. Together, in and out of the classroom, we seek as many perspectives as possible to help us identify and solve problems that affect the well-being of people and our planet.

We draw our energy from our founding President, Charles Perry, who in a 1974 press release entitled International…It’s Our Middle Name, described FIU’s mission in this way:

We realize that solutions to the problems of pollution, urbanization, and population growth which beset us can only be approached by a consciousness of their relation to the global human environment. It is this consciousness which led to the commitment of Florida International University not only to the traditions of higher education, but also to innovation in response to the changing needs of the citizens of the world.

We constantly seek new ways to support our faculty, staff, students, and community members in dialogues across difference and collaborative problem solving. We seek partners to provide programming, professional development, and other opportunities to enable all we serve to affect tangible, positive change. In the coming days we encourage you to reach out to one another and to us, and to share with one another and with us your inspirations and your ideas as to how together, we can work to promote more global learning—and a better world—for all.