Sister City administrators to visit KU

LAWRENCE — A group of senior administrators from Kanagawa University in Hiratsuka, Japan, including the president, will visit the University of Kansas on Tuesday, Sept. 17, and Wednesday, Sept. 18, to discuss the long–standing relationship between the two institutions.

Professor Masaru Ishizumi, Kanagawa president, and four other university officials will meet with Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little and KU International Programs administrators and staff.

Their schedule also includes visiting a Japanese literature class and meeting with Center for Global & International Studies Director John Kennedy. Kanagawa University students attending KU will have breakfast with the group.  

They will also explore opportunities to expand and deepen their relationship with KU by broadening the student participation base. The Japanese government is investing heavily in creating study abroad opportunities in the United States. KU may become a destination campus for Kanagawa students wishing to study abroad for a semester or academic year.  

The Lawrence City Commission will present a proclamation to Ishizumi at its Sept. 17 meeting, proclaiming that day Kanagawa University Day.

Lawrence and Hiratsuka became sister cities in 1991. Since then the Applied English Center has hosted Kanagawa students who come for short-term programs. Groups of up to 26 Kanagawa undergraduates have spent four to six weeks in Lawrence every February studying English and American culture. Their positive experiences have led to some students returning to study at KU.  

The partnership also involves KU undergraduates going to Hiratsuka. Since the summer of 1991, 232 KU students have studied at Kanagawa University.