WMU hosts Japanese Sister City
July 20, 2000
KALAMAZOO -- Western Michigan University will act as host today, July 20, for a campus dinner to honor visiting officials and students from Kalamazoo's Japanese sister city, Numazu.
The 6 p.m. dinner at the Fetzer Center is planned in conjunction with Kalamazoo's host committee. It will be attended by 10 students from Japan and their host families from the Kalamazoo area as well as a number of Numazu and Kalamazoo city officials and educators.
About 100 invited guests will include 29 visitors from Numazu who are spending a week in Kalamazoo. Ten advanced students of English, two teachers, and the principal of Numazu High School are part of the delegation, which also includes the Numazu deputy mayor, the head of that city's chamber of commerce and the head of the city's elected city council.
Kalamazoo area officials who will attend include Kalamazoo Mayor Robert Jones; City Manager Pat DiGiovanni; Dr. Howard Dooley, WMU executive director for international affairs; and Jin Abe, program and student advisor for WMU's International Student Services.
Brief remarks will be made by Jones; Dooley; Bob Hall, chairman of Kalamazoo's host committee; and representatives from the Numazu delegation.
Media contact: Cheryl Roland, 616 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu