Niagara University has announced a new on-campus center aimed at helping international students and families relocating to the area improve their English language proficiency and other personal skills.
Niagara University President Father James Maher says the Center for Language, Culture and Leadership will go beyond just teaching English.
"We recognize that language acquisition and development, as important as it is, is not the full story," says Father Maher. "We really want to be able to create a place were there's full embrace of diversity and the welcoming of people's cultures. But also that it helps people to tap into, in the learning process, their innate leadership abilities. That's really what the center is going to focus on both with Niagara students, international students and with the refugee population of Buffalo and Western New York."
The new center opens as Niagara University also announces a new partnership with a Vietnamese hospitality and tourism training center. The partnership allows Vietnamese students to train with the university's hospitality faculty, boosting efforts to develop a skilled tourism workforce in Vietnam.