Dr. Ashley Byczkowski, assistant professor of french, welcomed 25 visitors from the cities of Lille, France and Mouscron, Belgium to tour Niagara University’s Lewiston campus on Friday, July 10. The visit was part of a larger trip organized by the Buffalo-Lille Sister City Association to share the entire Western New York region with their sister city visitors.
Dr. Byczkowski was aided by Michele Roberts, NUSTEP french teach at Williamsville East High School, and NU students: Megan Henel, Qutaiba Kaleem, and Osezoname “Keilah” Aletor. The student team was extremely excited during the preparation for the group, and with the help of Father Joseph Hubbert and Deacon Howard Morgan ’86, they were able to provide a very well rounded history of NU to share with the French and Belgian visitors. As only three of the 25 visitors spoke English, Dr. Byczkowski translated the entire tour into French for the group, as well as questions from the visitors into English for the student tour guides.
The visitors were grateful to learn so much about the religious, intellectual, and architectural history of the university. As the group was composed of several college-age students and a handful of teachers, they were very curious to learn about the differences between the American and European university systems. Above all, the group was intrigued to learn about the liberal arts education model through the ability to have double majors and several minors.
They had a lot of questions about the cost to attend American universities and were happy to learn how this cost is balanced by scholarships and financial aid. They loved hearing about the student-faculty relationship unique to Niagara.
If you have an interest in bringing a group tour to campus you can register below.
