Celebrations in two languages

Mayab Ceremony, originally uploaded by drtaxsacto.

For the last couple of days I have been in Merida at Universidad del Mayab. It is a university I know well. I have taught there once and have worked with several people there on a variety of projects. My friend Guillermo Hernandez, who is now the rector of Universidad Politecnica de Aguascalientes, was one of the first persons I met at the Mayab. The rector is Spanish and seems to run the place with a gentle but firm hand. He is soft spoken but he has built the place into a regional powerhouse. The SEP (Secretary of Public Education) gave an award for quality to the university on Friday and I was invited, as a friend and collaborator, to participate in the ceremony.

This was the first time I have attempted to give a speech in public entirely in Spanish. Most of the people I spoke to after my speech were gracious and said I did pretty well. It is an interesting experience to try to give a public speech in another language. I brought the English with me in case I chickened out. (I did not) I stumbled over a couple of words - I normally speak mostly extemporaneously so reading in any language is a bit of a chore. Before the speech, Guillermo was kind enough to sharpen the words a bit - por and para (for in Spanish) and ser and estar (to be) continue to plague me. So do articles - sometimes you use them and sometimes you do not. But it was all in all a fun experience.

I was struck with one other thing. Fr. Sabin seemed to accept the award with grace but I do not think he thought it very important. His real concern seems to be building the university and to the extent that the SEP recognizes their positive steps that is wonderful - but without the award he would continue to try to build the university to a place of international standards. In the end that orientation, that commitment to qualities is more important than plaques.

Here is what I said in Spanish and then in English.

En una ocasión tan importante, tengo el gusto de estar aquí, yo deseó hablar palabras exactas. Así que estoy leyendo esto - aunque las palabras salen del mi corazón. Debo confesar que soy el principiante más lento del mundo del español. Pero igual con mi español limitado entiendo las cualidades esenciales de esta universidad.

Hace doce años tuve una idea. Pensé que era importante que los miembros de mi asociación comiencen más actividades con las universidades mexicanas de calidad similar. Mi asociación tiene muchas universidades prominentes incluyendo USC y Stanford y muchas que son menos prominentes, sin embargo, todas están interesadas en calidad. Comenzamos una búsqueda para las universidades que cabrían en nuestro molde. Nuestro molde no es de un solo tamaño e intereses. Todas nuestras universidades son privadas. Deseamos concentrarnos en México debido a su proximidad con la geografía y la historia de California.

Debo confesar que no fui sorprendido con el reconocimiento a la Universidad del Mayab por su calidad. He trabajado con el Mayab desde hace tiempo y he conocido a sus profesores, sus estudiantes y sus administradores. Si la Universidad del Mayab se instalara en California, seria automáticamente parte de mi asociación. Entonces, he disfrutado nuestra asociación con el Mayab.

Las universidades del mundo se pueden dividir en dos clases. El primero son los que exigen estándares de la clase mundial de todos sus participantes - estudiantes, profesores y administración. Son parte de una red internacional de la calidad. El segundo no es digno de mencionar.

Obviamente, la universidad del Mayab está en el primer grupo. Cuando enseñé aquí hace algunos años, mis estudiantes prepararon un estudio de caso de la fusión de Hewlett Packard que estaba entre los mejores proyectos que he encontrado como profesor. Felicitaciones a la universidad y a toda la gente que contribuyó a esta concesión.

Gracias Padre Sabin por invitarme a que comparta esta celebración. Miro hacia adelante nuestro trabajo conjunto.

In an occasion as important as this one, I would like to have my words be exact. So I am going to read this – but be assured that the words are from my heart. I have to confess that I am the world’s slowest student in Spanish, but even with my limited Spanish I can understand the essential qualities of this university.

12 years ago I thought it was important to initiate more activities between institutions in my association and ones in Mexico that were similar in quality. My association has prominent universities like USC and Stanford and it also includes less prominent universities. But all of them are concerned with quality. So we began a search for institutions in a similar mold. Without question our institutions are not of a similar size or interest. All of our universities are private. We decided to concentrate our search in Mexico because of the obvious geographic and historic ties between our two regions.

I need to confess that I was not surprised by the recognition of the Mayab University for its quality. During the time I have worked with the Mayab, I have come to know the professors, the students and the administrators. Were the Mayab to be moved to California it would immediately be a member of our association. I have enjoyed our association with the Mayab.

The universities in the world are divided into two classes. The first work within world-class standards among all their participants – including students, professors and administration. They are part of an international network of quality. The second is not worth mentioning.

Obviously the Mayab University is a part of the first group. When I taught here a few years ago, my students prepared a case on the Hewlett Packard merger that was among the best that I have ever encountered as a professor. Congratulations to the university and to all the individuals who contributed to this recognition.

Thank you Fr. Sabin for your invitation to share in this celebration and I look forward to continuing our work together.