From the EUVP to the Schuman Challenge: A Professional and Intellectual Journey
In 2004, I had the privilege of participating in the European Union Visitors Program (EUVP), a program that enables young leaders from around the world to study European institutions. I spent five days in Brussels and three days in Strasbourg learning about the EU’s Sixth Framework Program (FP6) for European Research and Technological Development, which ran from 2002–2006. I was particularly interested in learning how FP6 would promote research and technological development in all EU Member States, including smaller, less populous countries.
This interest began in 2004, when I was working for the state government of West Virginia, a rural state with a population of less than two million. Specifically, my job was to examine how West Virginia could increase its capacity to conduct research and contribute to scientific progress and technological development in the United States. My time with the EUVP provided me with an excellent professional and intellectual experience that I could bring back to West Virginia, as I could apply what I learned about how FP6 helped to establish priority thematic research areas across the entire EU and to strengthen research capacity in smaller, West Virginia-sized Member States such as Austria, Ireland, and Portugal.
I also returned from my EUVP experience with a deep admiration and appreciation for the EU and its institutions. (I can still remember my first time seeing the European Parliament Hemicycle , a tremendously impressive space that to me reflected the grandeur and the complexity of the EU and its mission.) Upon my return to the US, I was anxious to share my interest in the EU with others — especially college students. As my career path took different twists and turns, it would be about 14 years before the perfect opportunity arrived: the Schuman Challenge.
I first learned about the Schuman Challenge while attending an EUVP Alumni Reception at the EU Delegation in Washington, DC, in November 2017. It sounded like an ideal way to engage bright and motivated undergraduates to learn about the EU and how the EU and U.S. can work together — however, I also noted that all of the teams in the 2017 competition were from the Washington, D.C. region. I contacted Mr. Martin Caudron to inquire about the possibility of West Virginia University (WVU), where I now work as the Senior Advisor to the President and an adjunct faculty member, competing in the 2018 event. WVU was honored to receive an invitation to participate in the 2018 Schuman Challenge, and doubly honored to win the competition against an outstanding slate of teams from some of the best universities in the United States, while being evaluated by exceptional judging panels comprised of global leaders and experts.
The students on this year’s WVU team were Morgan King and Garrett Burgess, and working with them was a personal and professional joy. Morgan and Garrett are keenly interested in international affairs and they channeled their interests into careful research on the topic of EU-U.S. cooperation to diminish tensions on the Korean peninsula and improve human rights in North Korea. Morgan and Garrett are also active with WVU’s award-winning Model United Nations program, which provides good preparation for a competition like the Schuman Challenge. Their skill, determination, and initiative inspire me.
As I listened to Morgan and Garrett compete in the final round of the Schuman Challenge, I thought about my EUVP experience 14 years earlier and how that led to my goal of getting college students more engaged with the EU. Although it took longer than I planned, I felt that an important professional and intellectual journey was coming full circle. At the same time, I felt that an exciting new journey was getting underway — and now, I look forward to working with other WVU students to compete in the 2019 Schuman Challenge!
I extend my gratitude to the European Union for the EUVP and the Schuman Challenge — transformative experiences that have helped me to be a more effective educator and more informed global citizen.
Jay Cole is Senior Advisor to the President of West Virginia University (WVU) and teaches courses in the WVU Honors College. Earlier in his career, he served as Deputy Secretary of Education and the Arts and Education Policy Advisor to the Governor of West Virginia. He earned a PhD from the University of Michigan, a MA from The Ohio State University, and a BA from WVU. His honors include being selected a Truman Scholar by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation in 1993 and a Christine Mirzayan by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in 2007.
