Contact:
Elizabeth Blevins, Director, Office of Communications
Office: (740) 351-3810; FAX: (740) 351-3179; Cell: (740) 464-4854
940 Second Street – Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
E-mail: eblevins@shawnee.edu 
Web site: www.shawnee.edu

             The U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Patricia A. Butenis, right, talks to Shawnee State University’s Director of the Center for International Programs and Activities Rita Haider, center, at the “Amazing America” event in the SSU booth in Sri Lanka. The event was to introduce American colleges and universities to prospective students. The student, left, is from the American College of Higher Education.

             Shawnee State University’s Center for International Programs and Activities Director Rita Haider participated in “Amazing America” to introduce SSU to prospective students in Sri Lanka in November.
             The highly-promoted, outreach event was designed to attract Sri Lankan students, high school and university representatives and parents to meet with American university officials to promote American higher education.
             This is the second consecutive year the event has been in Sri Lanka. Haider decorated the booth with SSU’s new promotional banners. The American College of Sri Lanka sponsored the event that was held in two different cities, Columbo and Kandy.
             “Amazing America” was held at the Cinnamon Lake Hotel (formerly the Trans Asia Hotel), a leading five-star hotel in Colombo.
             In Kandy, a city located in the heart of Sri Lanka, the event was in the Queen’s Hotel, a local heritage hotel.
             There are more than 10,000 high school students studying the English language at schools in the Colombo area alone. In addition, there are more than 50,000 English speaking students studying at public and private colleges and professional associations in the Colombo area. Sri Lanka has a 93 percent literacy rate and families strongly encourage their children to pursue advanced studies. Students see education as a way to success and personal development.
             ”Education is highly valued in Sri Lankan society but the university system can handle only five to ten percent of qualified graduates,” Haider said. “Thousands of students travel to foreign countries for higher education. Some of the popular destinations have been in the UK, Australia and Singapore. We want some of those students to come to Shawnee State.”
             The event was sponsored by the American College of Higher Education and organized by the American Alumni Association of Sri Lanka.