 Media Credit: Dave Register
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A procession of unmarked police and government vehicles pulled in front of Keating Hall on Sept. 24 at 8:30 p.m. His Excellency Leonel Fernández, the president of the Dominican Republic, rode in one of those cars. More than 400 students - many of Dominican descent - professors, and others sat and stood inside a cramped auditorium in Keating waiting to hear him speak.
President Fernández, who addressed the United Nations General Assembly earlier that day in Manhattan, asked Fordham for an invitation to visit the campus during his stay in the city, a request the University promptly granted. Fordham's graduate program in international political economy and development hosted the event.
"We said we would be honored to invite him," Dr. Henry Schwalbenberg, director of IPED, said.
Fernández, who was raised in Manhattan's Washington Heights, received a standing ovation and a burst of camera flashes as he entered the auditorium. Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, welcomed Fernández.
"On this night, we hail you as the son of Washington Heights, we hail you as the president of a great and progressive nation, and we thank you for your presence," McShane said.
Fernández took the stage soon after, accompanied by his wife, Her Excellency Margarita Fernández, McShane, Schwalbenberg, and Ronald Schneider, professor of political science at Queens College and author of Caribbean Crusader, a new biography of President Fernández. Audience members listened as a moderator asked pre-submitted questions from IPED students to the panel. The president spoke at length about the evolution of government systems in Latin America, from dictatorships in the 1970s to democracies in the present day.
"And now, instead of speaking about a transition to democracy, we're talking about consolidating democracy and guaranteeing full quality of democracy for the people," he said.
In an effort to strengthen ties with the University, Fernández named Fordham as a partner in expanding democracy throughout the Dominican Republic and the rest of Latin America.
"A way of helping democracy grow is sharing knowledge … sharing knowledge with Fordham University and sharing knowledge with other institutions of higher learning in the United States," he said.
Fernández is currently serving his third term as president. He served from 1996 to 2000 and again from 2004 until May of this year. Throughout the night, the president sought to distance himself from previous leaders of the Dominican Republic, like Rafael Trujillo, the brutal dictator who ruled the country for 30 years, and Joaquin Balaguer, a milder authoritarian president who served until 1996.
2008 Woodie Awards
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