Seton Hall Magazine, Summer 2001 - TLTC Blogs - Seton Hall ...

Group of Eminent Persons
Giandomenico Picco (Italy),
Personal Representative of
the U.N. Secretary-General
A. Kamal Aboulmagd (Egypt)
Lourdes Arizpe (Mexico)
Hanan Ashrawi (Palestine)
Ruth Cardoso (Brazil)
The Honorable Jacques Delors (France)
Leslie Gelb (United States of America)
Nadine Gordimer (South Africa)
Hall. Through weekly seminars and
activities, students have engaged in
diversity training; explored the complexities
behind conflicts in the Middle
East, Northern Ireland and Africa;
and shared potluck dinners featuring
foods from around the world.
The School’s involvement already
has increased its global reach.
DiGiacobbe points out, “In May,
we received phone calls and e-mails
from prospective students in Kenya,
Australia and Luxembourg who
learned about the Dialogue from
our Web site and want to know more
about our School.”
Constantinou adds, “It is a great
accomplishment for Seton Hall and
the School of Diplomacy to be part of
this extraordinary endeavor. I expect
that the work produced by the Group
of Eminent Persons will have tremendous
impact for years to come.”
During Annan’s remarks at Seton
Hall in February, the secretary-general
lauded the School of Diplomacy’s
“visionary decision to accept the role
of coordinating Secretariat of the Year
of Dialogue among Civilizations.”
Annan also singled out “the important
contribution that the School,
under the leadership of Ambassador
Constantinou, has made. Diversity is
both the basis for the Dialogue among
Civilizations, and also the reality that
makes dialogue necessary,” Annan told
the University community. “It is this
global civilization that we are called on
to defend and promote as we embark
on a new century.”
20 SETON HALL UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE
United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations
His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin
Talal (Jordan)
Professor Sergei Kapitza (Russia)
Professor Hayao Kawai (Japan)
Ambassador Tommy Koh (Singapore)
Professor Hans Küng (Switzerland)
Graça Machel (Mozambique)
Professor Amartya Sen (India)
Professor Song Jian (China)
The Honorable Dick Spring (Ireland)
Professor Tu Wei Ming (China)
The Global Compact
Following Annan’s address, the School
of Diplomacy hosted area corporate
leaders at a private dinner honoring
the secretary-general. “The worlds
of business and diplomacy are natural
allies,” Constantinou says. “There is
a great deal of synergy here, in the
sense that businesses are now recognized
actors on the world stage, in
“Without this dialogue
taking place every day
among all nations —
within and between
civilizations, cultures
and groups — no peace
can be lasting and no
prosperity can be secure.”
— Kofi Annan
a similar way to nongovernmental
organizations. They often help facilitate
dialogue and forge consensus
between nations where governments
are unsuccessful.”
In his address at the dinner, Annan
urged the corporate community to sign
on to the Global Compact, an agreement
that encourages the world’s
business leaders to exhibit greater sensitivity
in dealing with human rights,
labor and environmental issues. The
plea echoed a speech Annan gave in
January at the World Economic Forum
Conference in Davos, Switzerland.
The Honorable Richard von Weizsäcker
(Germany)
Professor Javad Zarif (Iran)
Secretariat
Ambassador Clay Constantinou, Dean
Marilyn DiGiacobbe, Associate Dean
Marian G. Glenn, Associate Dean
Fred Hassan, chairman and CEO
of Pharmacia Corporation in Peapack
(and recipient of the School’s 2000
Global Citizen Award), addressed the
secretary-general on behalf of the
business community. “We all have
a stake in answering the pleas of our
less fortunate neighbors,” Hassan
said. “Many of us in the business
community share your vision that,
working together, there is little that
we cannot accomplish.”
Constantinou notes that Hassan
has been a great benefactor to the
School of Diplomacy and has a wealth
of experience in fostering dialogue and
collaboration between governments,
academia and the private sector. “Fred
is truly a man of global vision and
an outstanding role model for our
students,” the dean observes.
Annan’s visit was an important
event in the history of Seton Hall,
demonstrating the University’s ability
to affect global change. As the
secretary-general emphasized in
concluding his remarks on that snowy
February evening, “the Dialogue
among Civilizations should be held
at Seton Hall, and it should be held
at the United Nations, and wherever
people of good will seek to bridge
differences and advance peace,
drawing on the best of humanity’s
rich and diverse past to improve our
common future.”
For more information, visit
diplomacy.shu.edu/dialogue or
www.un.org/dialogue on the Web.