Macon school wants to make ‘global citizens and serving leaders’ with global studies center

Mount de Sales Academy has partnered with Mercer University to create more opportunities for engagement across cultures by building the Judge Betty Willis Ruben Center for Global Studies, the schools announced Wednesday.

The center, named after Ruben, who died in April, aims to create opportunities for cross-cultural engagement and “immersive experiences that are typically reserved for college students,” Mount de Sales President Brendan O’Kane said.

Loleta Sartin, a board of trustees member for the school and the dean in Mercer University’s College of Education, said the new program is a “unique initiative to prepare the next generation to be global citizens and serving leaders.”

Ruben was a 1944 graduate of Mount de Sales, which is a private catholic prep school in Macon. Mount de Sales said in a news release that the center was possible due to a “generous bequest” from her.

The Mercer on Mission program, a study abroad and service-learning program for Mercer students, will work in collaboration with the center alongside Mercer’s Department of International and Global Studies.

Bill Underwood, president of Mercer University, worked closely with O’Kane and emphasized the “impact that experiential learning could have on young people,” both inside and outside the classroom.

The school is currently planning a trip this summer for students involved in the program. Officials didn’t have a date set Wednesday for when the global studies center will open.