ESC at the Launching of the Lafayette Fellowship
On September 23, Professor Julia Adams, Chair of the European Studies Council, accompanied three outstanding Yale undergraduates – Audrey Umurerwa Gatera ‘26, Kaleb Trice ‘26, and Diana Yang ’26 -- to a student-centered event at Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education in New York. The gathering featured Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of France, who spoke as part of the launch of the Lafayette Fellowship, a new higher education initiative celebrating 250 years of Franco-American friendship and dedicated to nurturing the next generation of transatlantic leaders.
The program kicked off with a welcome address by Mohamed Bouabdallah, Cultural Counselor of France in the U.S. and Director of Villa Albertine, followed by remarks by President Macron, and an inspiring back-and-forth between the French president and students from a number of U.S. universities. The enormous importance of higher education and the students’ own future contributions; the societal need for scholarly training in the liberal arts, broadly understood, and the continuing significance of the Enlightenment for human affairs: all were canvassed as the students listened and engaged and the Lafayette Fellowship was celebrated. Vive La France!
