Ties Between Xalapa, UNO Celebrated During International Education Week

Known as the "City of Flowers," Xalapa, Mexico, is one of Omaha's youngest Sister Cities, but features a history that stretches back thousands of years and a reach that stretches thousands of miles.

On Wednesday, Nov. 20, UNO hosted Guadalupe Sanchez Salazar, the Mexican Consul in Omaha, and Omar Torres Fernández, M.A., Dean of International Business at UNO's sister city of Universidad Anáhuac Xalapa, as part of International Education Week. The visit provided an opportunity for both Salazar and Fernández to talk about the importance of higher education for addressing global, as well as local, needs.

"I see a lot of potential," Fernández said. "We are working with the [UNO] College of Business and we are speaking about having some commercial missions and involving the [Xalapa] chamber of commerce coming to Omaha and see what we can be doing together."

In 2015, representatives from Xalapa, including the Mayor of Xalapa Guillermo Zuniga, visited UNO shortly after the Sister City partnership was formalized. In the subsequent years, the partnership between Xalapa and Universidad Anáhuac Xalapa has only grown.

"I think one of the most amazing things is the speed of the collaboration and the growth," explained Jane Meza, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for global engagement at UNO and UNMC. "Of course the sister city relationship really helps as well ... what we see is that the relationships like these that do well are the ones that have lots of roots and we are seeing lots of roots growing here from Xalapa."

All told, UNO has dozens of exchange programs with universities from across the world - ranging from Australia to the United Kingdom - featuring key student exchange and research partnerships.

Those interested in exploring global engagement opportunities in cities like Xalapa or beyond, connect with UNO's International Programs office via email at world@unomaha.edu, phone at 402.554.2293 or in person at Arts and Sciences Hall Room 241.