Miami Student

Issue date: 3/6/07 Section: Front Page

Media Credit: Stacey Skotzko The lease on the Luxembourg chateau, where MUDEC students attend classes, expires in 2012.

As Miami University students prepare to leave Oxford for a break from the busy schedule of class, Miami University President David Hodge is planning to spend spring break at Miami's campus in Luxembourg along with his wife, Valerie, and daughter, Meriem.

The Luxembourg campus, home to Miami University Dolibois European Center (MUDEC), is the only campus Hodge has not visited since becoming the 21st president of Miami. His visit will focus mainly on gaining a personal view of the experience of students living in Luxembourg.

"This is the only Miami campus I haven't visited yet," Hodge said. "I want to see firsthand what it's like there and what students do. That's really important."

While visiting Luxembourg, Hodge says he plans on attending some classes in addition to speaking with students, faculty, and staff.

"I will be attending class and talking to the faculty, talking to some donors, and four to five significant officials," Hodge said.

Ekkehard Stiller, dean of MUDEC, spread the word of Hodge's visit to Miami students in Luxembourg through the Meindeg Moien (or "Monday Morning"), which is a weekly newsletter to all MUDEC students.

"We are most pleased that this visit comes so early in President Hodge's tenure at Miami and look forward to their presence at MUDEC," Stiller said in the newsletter. "An extensive program will give them an opportunity to meet all of (the students) and also some of the most important contacts we have here in Luxembourg."

Patrick Fleming, a junior at Miami who is studying in Luxembourg this semester, says he is looking forward to Hodge's visit.

"I'm pumped that President Hodge is using his spring break to come over here and visit the rest of Miami University and get a taste of how we live for a semester," Fleming said, via e-mail.

While Hodge's visit to MUDEC is mainly to get a feel for the student experience there, he will also be speaking with leaders from

Luxembourg concerning the 2012 expiration on the lease on the chateau, from which MUDEC is run in Differdange, Luxembourg.

"Our lease at the Luxembourg site runs out in 2012 and so part of my activities there will be with the local ministries," Hodge said.

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