Congratulations to the graduating class of 2019.
We were delighted to receive alumnus Mark Wang back to his old college this weekend.
Mark is the founder and Chair of UWC Changshu. He has been nominated as one of 10 most influential individuals in the Jiangsu Province. Mark arrived with a team who are preparing a film about his dreams and ambitions – their origin and fulfillment. The impact Mark is having in Chinese education and regional development is a credit to the UWC movement. As he says himself: coming to UWC was a shift like going from black-and-white to full colour.
On Saturday, members of the RCN community gathered for the annual LGBTQ+ Pride celebration. Fifty students, staff members, and families marched from the school to Flekke in a joyous, colorful parade. In Flekke, leaders of the Gender and Sexuality student group (GAS) spoke about the history of Pride and the continuing struggles faced by queer people around the world.
Saturday evening, GAS partnered with Amnesty International as students signed a petition protesting the brutal treatment of LGBT people in Chechnya. Finally, students gathered for a show on the sunny lawn to share poetry, song, and moving stories of personal experience.
Thank you to all those who participated in this affirming coming-together of our community! Happy Pride!
See here for an album of photos from the day.
Pär Stenbäck
Our annual Council Meeting was held at the end of last week.
Following elections we are glad to welcome Johan Aura (Finland) as a new member to the Council. Apart from the formal meetings the program was made so that the Council had several opportunities to interact with the students and get an insight into their activities.
Prior to the meetings, Jan Olav Baarøy, from NOREC informed the Council about their work under the title “The Exchange of People in a Changing World”. Chair of the Council Pär Stenbäck addressed the students with his focus being Democracy under threat, drawing on his recently published book.
