Creating a bond with Liberia

Salem State University recently signed a memo of understanding with Liberia’s United Methodist University to continue developing a relationship between the two institutions. The agreement was recently signed on the Salem campus by Salem State president Patricia Maguire Meservey and Bishop John G. Innis, president of United Methodist’s board of trustees. The relationship grew out of work that Greg Carroll, chairman of Salem State’s interdisciplinary studies department, has done with two nongovernmental groups, Seattle-based Global Citizen Journey and Ghana-based Population Caring Organization. As part of that work, Carroll traveled with Salem State associate professor Allan Shwedel and seven students to Liberia in April, when they spent eight days assisting with a peace-building initiative in the West African nation. With the help of the bishop’s daughter, who is a student at Salem State, the visiting delegation was able to establish a connection with United Methodist University that provided the seed for the new agreement. Carroll and Shwedel plan return trips to Liberia this fall and in January with additional faculty and students. - John Laidler