Olmsted grant supports cadets' overseas learning

The University of North Georgia (UNG) has received a $22,000 grant from the Olmsted Foundation for 2023 to support international opportunities for cadets from UNG, Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, and Georgia State University. These trips, typically one to three weeks in length, take place in non-English-speaking countries.

UNG plans to send cadets to a total of eight professional development experiences this semester in Wroclaw, Poland; Turin, Italy; Gori, Georgia; Riga, Latvia; and Sibiu, Romania. Turin is hosting three of the events and Wroclaw has two of them.

"We are immensely proud of our association with the George and Carol Olmsted Foundation. In the past four years, we have found their support essential to our efforts to follow Maj. Gen. Olmsted's conviction 'that the greatest leaders must be educated broadly,'" Wesley Pirkle, UNG director of global military programs, said. "The generosity of the foundation has been central to our efforts, and we work to invest and be good stewards of these Olmsted funds so that we can continue to provide cadets quality international educational opportunities and experiences."

Retired Army Col. Mark Elfendahl, executive vice president of the Olmsted Foundation, said the renewal of the grant was a natural extension of a strong partnership.

The breadth and variety of overseas locations to which UNG is able to send cadets continues to be impressive. Clearly, UNG maximizes return on investment from this grant. It gives future officers formative experiences before they graduate.

Retired Army Col. Mark Elfendahl

Olmsted Foundation executive vice president

He aims to join the Air Force upon graduation to either work in military intelligence or fly planes. Thanks to Olmsted funding, he participated in a three-month internship at the NATO Defense College in Rome, Italy, in fall 2022.

"I was surrounded by people from various Arab countries the entire time. They were coming to learn from NATO. I got to listen to different dialects of Arabic and practice my Arabic," Borders said. "It was an experience I'll never forget."

This is the fifth year of Olmsted funds being available for African American cadets in Atlanta. The first three years, it supported cadets from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Clark Atlanta University who were part of ROTC at Georgia State. Now, for the second time, African American cadets who attend Georgia State are also eligible.

The Olmsted Foundation's latest grant brings its total gifts to UNG to $162,500 over seven years, including $30,500 for HBCU cadets. Through the end of 2022, more than 40 UNG cadets and nine HBCU cadets have been part of the overseas immersion opportunities.