The Human Side of Immigration
Back to ListMay 20, 2009
Emory's commencement speaker this year was former President of Mexico, Vicente Fox. During two days that were packed with graduation-related events, we managed to squeeze in a two-hour working lunch at my house. After a mild anxiety attack about what to feed President and Mrs. Fox, I looked forward to discussing the year-long collaboration between IDN and Centro Fox, Mexico's first presidential library and research institute.
Over the past year a group of Emory faculty have been working with Centro Fox to shape a collaborative research agenda. The initiative brings together President Fox's long-standing commitment to improving the terms of immigration between Mexico and the U.S. with the interests of Emory faculty whose work focuses on the Latin American and Caribbean regions. Part of what inspires me about this research partnership is President Fox's passion to support immigrants who risk much to improve their lives. Perhaps this is because his grandfather, Joseph Fox, emigrated from Cincinnati, Ohio to Guanajuato with very little in his pockets.
Last April President Fox was on the Emory campus for a lunch meeting with faculty to discuss his vision for Centro Fox. Because he did most of the talking, President Fox didn't get to eat his meal so, after the meeting, I invited him and his wife to a local bistro. During our lunch we were interrupted four or five times by small groups of Mexican workers who came out of the kitchen to see if the former President of Mexico was really in the restaurant. Each time, President and Mrs. Fox got out of the booth to talk with the workers, take photos and offer warm handshakes. The exchanges were warm and personal; the Foxes did not seem to mind at all that their lunch was repeatedly interrupted.
Vicente Fox and Centro Fox are good partners for IDN. We share a number of principles: the importance of working in partnership, the value of local knowledge, the urgency of undertaking research that informs policies and programs. Our collaborative research will result in better information on the human experiences of migration on both sides of the border.
Director, Institute for Developing Nations,
Emory University
