Graz Honors Senator Cole
President Susan A. Cole was awarded the title “Honorary Senator of the University of Graz” at a ceremony in Graz, Austria, in April.
With University of Graz Rector Christa Neuper presiding, the ceremony was attended by City of Graz Mayor Siegfried Nagl, guests and members of the faculty and administration of both the University of Graz and Montclair State University.
In her acceptance remarks, Cole stressed the importance of education to the practice of citizenship in an open and diverse society, and how it is vital that universities engage with the world.
“As universities, we cannot fulfill our mission if we remain ensconced behind the walls of our institution or the boundaries of our nation,” she said. “We must forge an organic engagement with the larger society that we serve, and, in today’s world, that larger society is, in fact, the whole world, and it is why the partnership between our two universities is so important.”