All 24 graduate May 10 from ACU, with president on hand to congratulate them

Four years ago, the forward-thinking president of a small island nation decided to invest in what he calls "Madagascar's greatest resource – its people."

That investment paid off Saturday when all 24 students sent to Abilene Christian University graduated with high expectations that they will become "future leaders" in their home nation.

Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana is a successful business owner and Christian leader who said that sending his students to ACU was "the best investment in the world" toward his goal of lifting his nation of 17 million people out of poverty.

Ravalomanana addressed the Malagasy students during ACU's Commencement: "I am proud of you. Your country, your families and your professors are proud of you…. I hope you understand what a treasure you will have when you receive your diploma from ACU. Having a degree from an American university is highly valued around the world, but to graduate from an excellent university where God is honored is priceless."

ACU, a prestigious private university in Texas that attracts 4,700 students from 60 nations, became home for these 12 women and 12 men from Madagascar while they majored in areas they felt would be transformational for their home economy and culture, including business, technology, education and the sciences.

"To the faculty and staff of ACU, please accept my deepest gratitude for your dedication to academic excellence and your commitment to the values of Jesus Christ," Ravalomanana said. "In fact, you have exceeded my expectations. You have helped develop the minds of your students, and you have helped to shape their faith and lives, as well."

During the May 10 Commencement, ACU awarded Ravalomanana an honorary doctor of laws degree, particularly for the improvement of education in his nation.

Ravalomanana became mayor of Antananariva, the capital of Madagascar, in 1999 and was elected president of the Republic of Madagascar in December 2001. Using skills he honed while growing a successful business, he has developed a reputation as a model leader in the African and Indian Ocean region.

In 2004, Ravalomanana introduced a unique business plan for the development of the country, called the Madagascar Action Plan (MAP). This program includes an aggressive five-year plan for achieving and measuring progress on goals relating to education, poverty and the country's infrastructure.

During his ACU visit, Ravalomanana said, "We need leaders who are willing to serve others before themselves. We need men and women of integrity who will do what is right. We need people who take initiative, who are willing to tackle difficult issues and discover solutions. In fact, what we need in Madagascar is the same as what you need in America and what every nation needs. We need Christian servant-leaders, and we need them now."

One of the eight commitments included in MAP is to transform the educational systems in Madagascar. The plan calls for creating "an education system with world-class standards in quality and in effectiveness, which stimulates creativity and helps our students to actually transform their dreams into reality, and which provides Madagascar with the necessary human resources to become a competitive nation and a successful player in the world economy."

The president has made great strides in the development of his country. His bold vision has caught the attention of the United Nations, the World Bank and developed countries around the world.  In 2005, Madagascar was the first nation in the world to sign a contract for participation in the Millennium Challenge Account from the United States. Madagascar also received notice from World Bank of a significant grant to help transform education in the country.

Ravalomanana's deep commitment to develop the people of Madagascar led him to establish the Madagascar Presidential Scholars Program at ACU in 2004. The program was formalized when ACU’s Dr. John Tyson, vice president for development, met with Ravalomanana while on a business council trade mission in Madagascar.

Scholarship recipients were selected from 17 regions of the country, and all six provinces were represented. The students began at ACU in 2004, and the government of Madagascar paid their tuition for four years. To earn the prestigious scholarship, students not only had to be selected by the president’s application process, but also had to meet the university's academic and language qualifications. More than 1,000 students applied.

Now that they have graduated from ACU, some plan to continue their education in graduate schools both in the United States and abroad. Others are returning to Madagascar to begin applying their education immediately, said Tyson.

Joelly Rasamoelina graduated with a degree in sociology, and she plans to attend graduate school and become a development consultant in her home nation.

"At ACU I have witnessed students changing the world," Rasamoelina said. "I know the power that students hold in their hands, and I am hoping to raise awareness among college students in Madagascar, hoping to let them know they can develop the country, they can change the world."

The students have studied various majors, experienced American culture, worked at part-time jobs on campus and participated in service work and internships. Physics major Aldo Raeliarijaona, along with other ACU students, completed an internship at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Chicago. Rasamoelina spent a summer in Montana as a sociology intern on the Crow Indian Reservation.

When they return home, the students' experience will come full circle from their send-off ceremony four years ago, as they participate in a Malagasy re-creation of the Commencement, allowing their families to join in the celebration.

"Words can't say how happy our families are," said environmental science graduate Hasina Randrianjafy. "They have been waiting for this moment forever."

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