While new media and technologies have brought the world closer than ever to campus, students need a deeper understanding of international traditions, values, and attitudes to succeed personally and professionally according to UM President Mary Sue Coleman.

“I want more of our students to see more of the world,” said Coleman, who recently made a gift with her husband, Kenneth Coleman, to kick off the Challenge for the Student Global Experience. “Whether you view the world as getting flatter or smaller, the fact is we are more interconnected than ever. We must find ways to make the international experience more flexible, creative and affordable. Our future and the future of our nation depend on it.”

President Coleman hopes donors will help prepare students to thrive in the dynamic, global environment, and maximize their gifts for foreign study and learning.

The Challenge helps fulfill Coleman’s call to double UM student participation in study abroad programs. More than 1,800 Michigan undergraduates and roughly 670 graduate students already study abroad each year. The Challenge was launched on January 1, 2009 and will provide a $1 match for every $2 in endowment gifts.

The Challenge benefits UM-Ann Arbor undergraduate and graduate students who want to attend a UM-Ann Arbor
or affiliated foreign study program.

Here’s how it works:

• Endowment gifts ranging from $25,000 to $500,000 will be matched.
• The first pledge payment must be made by Dec. 31, 2009 with the final payment received by Dec. 31 2013.
• The match opportunity expires when the $5 million in available matching funds has been exhausted or by Dec. 31, 2009, whichever comes first.

More info on making a gift.