Two Hometowns
Scranton’s international graduates change the world for the better, at home and abroad. First, they bring the world to Scranton. Then, they bring Scranton to the world. International students enrich campus and off-campus life by infusing a global perspective into every space they enter. Lured by the promise of a top-tier education and an increasingly diverse community of scholars — and sometimes, several say, by the bonus pleasures of plentiful nature, four seasons and fabulous food — they enhance Scranton immensely while students. When they depart, they are not only themselves enhanced but well-equipped to participate and, typically, to lead in a global society. In the past six years alone, Scranton has educated 289 international students representing five continents and 50 countries, from Argentina and Azerbaijan to Vietnam and Zambia. Students have hailed from islands and archipelagos, colonies and territories, and have lived under almost every form of government. From Saudi Arabia alone, 136 students have enrolled in six years, with the next-largest contingents coming from India and the People’s Republic of China. Among the 289, 224 have been graduate students and 65 undergraduate students.
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THE SCRANTON JOURN A L
Most international students have enrolled in The Kania School of Management (KSOM) in six years: 48 accountancy or accounting majors, 44 finance majors, 17 management information systems majors, 15 general business administration majors, 12 marketing majors and seven each of international business, operations and software engineering majors. Health administration has been almost as popular a field, with 24 majors, but international students also have chosen counseling and the sciences, human resources and theology as academic disciplines. We caught up with five international graduates, as recent as 2018 and as long ago as 1987 when a KSOM graduate, who is now an entertainment-industry titan in India, said satellite technology was just gaining momentum. Scranton, he observed on a recent visit, has changed almost as much as the world has changed in 30 years. With individually impressive life stories that set them apart, all remain united by that common Scranton thread. All shared — and still share — the same sentiments about Scranton, saying none of their successes would have been possible without the foundations and friendships built here and the lasting lessons imparted here.
