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American Fulbright alumni turned out in force from around the country to celebrate Fulbright New Zealand’s 60th Anniversary at the only anniversary event to be held in the US - a gala dinner hosted at the New Zealand Embassy in Washington, DC on Saturday, June 7th.
New Zealand Ambassador to the US Roy Ferguson, himself a Fulbright alumnus, graciously hosted the function, which included cocktails and a four course dinner with New Zealand wines. 115 attendees travelled from as far afield as Boston, New York, Texas, New Mexico, California, Oregon and Hawai‘i to attend the dinner, to reminisce and to enjoy the company of fellow alumni and friends of the Fulbright programme on this auspicious occasion. Several generations of Fulbrighters were represented, from early exchange participants through to current New Zealand grantees based in the US, as were participants of the Ian Axford and Eisenhower Fellowships programmes which Fulbright New Zealand administers. Former Prime Minister of New Zealand Rt Hon Jim Bolger was a special guest speaker, attending the dinner with his wife Joan. In his speech Mr Bolger told alumni: “Your presence here tonight is just one measure of your support for these exchange programmes, and as always it is a delight to hear of the life-changing experiences you had as grantees. It is always a pleasure, too, to see New Zealanders and Americans come together in such cordial and mutually-respectful auspices, especially here in the corridors of power. Tonight we can rejoice in the truly positive relationship between our countries, which has been helped in no small part by the Fulbright programme and other similar initiatives.” Mr Bolger spoke of his privilege to have worked on improving that bilateral
relationship himself as Prime Minister, then Ambassador to the US, and
now Chairperson of both the NZ US Council and the Ian Axford (New Zealand)
Fellowships in Public Policy. Tom Farrell, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs at the
US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs,
also spoke at the event, reminding alumni that one is always a Fulbrighter
and should strive to represent the goals and mission of the programme
throughout their lifetime. “The mission of increasing mutual understanding
through educational exchange with the hope of peace remains as important
today as it was 60 years ago,” he explained. Harriet Fulbright, widow of the programme’s founder Senator J William Fulbright and herself a great supporter of Fulbright New Zealand, was on hand to propose a toast to the organisation on its anniversary.
Another highlight of the evening was a singing performance by 2008 Fulbright New Zealand Senior Scholar Susana Lei’ataua, who is currently Artist in Residence at New York University’s Asian/Pacific/American Studies Institute. Susana performed several songs from her new theatre work Breaking the Surface accompanied by photographic images of New Zealand’s South Island and her ancestral homeland of Samoa. The songs were co-written by Fulbright alumnus and renowned New Zealand composer Gareth Farr. Fulbright alumni donated generously to attend the dinner, and the US$8,000 raised will go towards funding an additional Fulbright award in 2009. |
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