‘It’s a great recognition of our work,’ says Yonas Negash. ‘Internationalization is an important theme at the UT. A lot has changed in the last two years; you can see that internationalization is ever-present here, it is not just a management policy anymore.'
The connecting link
The Henk Zijm Award was presented during today’s Let's GO! Study / Internship Abroad Fair. ‘We are the international platform of the university,’ says Negash. ‘We want to be the connecting link for all sport, educational and cultural associations. Because internationalization is more than just speaking English. It means understanding different cultures and bringing equal opportunities for all. In the last two years, we have made great strides in this regard. Take, for example, a historically traditional association Hippocampus, which has become international very quickly and is now attractive for both Dutch and international students.’
English
Negash is an international student himself. ‘I come from Germany, and my grades for English were not good,’ he says. ‘I wanted to improve and so I wanted my education to be in English, which led to me studying European Public Administration. When I started at UniTe two years ago, I saw that internationalization is a special issue because it affects the whole university.’
