The Moroccan-American Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange (MACECE) and Dar America hosted a reception Monday in Casablanca in honor of more than 25 representatives of U.S. universities and higher education institutions visiting Morocco.
The visit forms part of the EducationUSA Morocco promotion and partnership program, held in Casablanca and Rabat from October 4 to 6. The program aims to connect visiting U.S. institutions with Moroccan students, schools and universities, according to a MACECE statement.
“American higher education remains a global benchmark, and the institutions represented here this evening embody this excellence, from major research universities to colleges renowned for the individual attention they give each student,” said MACECE Executive Director Dr. Rebecca Geffner, as quoted in the statement.
“Over the past 80 years, the Fulbright Program has made this excellence accessible to talented people around the world, and it has been doing so in Morocco for more than four decades,” she added.
She noted that joint-supervision research, faculty and student mobility, and joint investment in talent strengthen the ability of both countries to innovate and remain competitive.
For his part, U.S. Consul General in Casablanca Christopher Deutsch said that, as the anniversary is being celebrated, he had come to realize that relations between countries are above all shaped by the women and men who bring them to life, and that education has always been at the heart of this history.
“Through MACECE and the Fulbright Program, generations of Moroccans and Americans have studied, taught and learned from one another,” he added, stressing that the impact of these exchanges extends far beyond the program itself.
The reception brought together U.S. higher education officials, representatives of international schools in Morocco, diplomats from the U.S. Mission in Morocco, former Moroccan Fulbright scholars who are now teachers and researchers at universities across the Kingdom, as well as American Fulbright scholars currently in Morocco.
The gathering focused on building lasting institutional partnerships between the two countries, the same source said.
The event was held as part of the Freedom 250 initiative, which celebrates the 250th anniversary of American independence and 250 years of Moroccan-American friendship, dating back to Morocco’s recognition of U.S. independence in 1777. This year also marks the 80th anniversary of the Fulbright Program.
Participating U.S. institutions included New York University, Fordham University, Temple University, George Mason University, Kent State University, the University of North Texas, Rowan University and Minnesota State University.
More than 20 Moroccan former Fulbright scholars attended the event to engage with the visiting delegations. Now professors and doctoral students, they represented Hassan II University of Casablanca, Ibn Tofail University in Kenitra, Moulay Ismail University in Meknes, Ibn Zohr University in Agadir, Hassan I University in Berrechid, Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, the International University of Rabat, the Hassan II Agronomic and Veterinary Institute and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University.
Several of them are graduates of participating institutions, including New York University, providing a tangible illustration of the ties forged through academic exchanges.
MACECE said the discussions focused on hosting Moroccan Fulbright scholars on U.S. campuses, cost-sharing and other forms of institutional cooperation, as well as promoting MACECE programs for Moroccan students and researchers seeking to study and conduct research in the United States.
In the spirit of Freedom 250, the evening highlighted the longstanding leading role played by the United States in higher education, research and innovation, as well as the free circulation of ideas that has characterized Moroccan-American relations for two and a half centuries.
