Office of the Mayor

Recognition

Lawrence, Kansas

WHEREAS:   The Lawrence Sister Cities program was established to create official relationships between Lawrence and cities in other countries to develop cultural, educational, and economic exchanges; and

WHEREAS:   The Shonan Campus of Kanagawa University was opened in 1989, and Kanagawa University remains committed to nurturing excellence, and to the solid educational principles that support this tradition as it prepares graduates to make a contribution in the world; and

WHEREAS: The Sister City relationship between Lawrence and Hiratsuka includes an exchange between KU’s Applied English Center and  Kanagawa University students who  have been coming for short-term programs since 1991; and

WHEREAS:   Annually, as many 26 Kanagawa students spend four to six weeks in Lawrence studying English and American culture, resulting in positive experiences that have led some students to return to study at the University of Kansas; and

WHEREAS: This partnership has also led to 232 American undergraduates going to Hiratsuka to study at Kanagawa University since the summer of 1991;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Michael Dever, Mayor of the City of Lawrence, Kansas, do hereby recognize the significance of the relationship between the cities of Lawrence and Hiratsuka, as well as the University of Kansas and Kanagawa University and call on everyone to support these visitors and the Sister Cities program.

                                                                   Michael Dever, Mayor

September 17, 2013