News and Events
ESU Restructures for the Future
National News
At its meeting on October 10, 2015, the National Board of Directors approved its Branch Services Committee's recommendation that ESUUS adopt and implement a new organizational and management structure. This legal reorganization, now in process, will provide immense benefits to the ESU at all levels.
The world has changed dramatically in the century since the ESU was founded in the US in 1920. The increased litigious and regulatory environment in which we find ourselves, together with the need for us to establish a unity of organization and purpose, make it incumbent on us to restructure both Branch operations and the organization as a whole. Local organizational Branch structures, which may have worked well decades ago, pose far too many risks today.
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Luard Morse Scholarship awarded to Serena Newberry and Leondre Ramsay
National News
Serena Newberry Leondre Ramsay
The ESU is proud to announce that Leondre Ramsay, a Political Science Major at Howard University, Washington, DC and Serena Newberry, an English Education and Pre-Law Major at Xavier University, New Orleans, LA have been selected as this year's recipients of the English-Speaking Union Luard Morse Scholarship. The scholarship provides $25,000 toward one semester of study at any university in the United Kingdom during the 2017-2018 academic year.
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ARNIC Thanksgiving
National News
On Monday, November 23rd, over 75 new immigrants celebrated their first Thanksgiving at the English-Speaking Union in New York City. These members of the Andrew Romay New Immigrant Center were joined by the founder and primary sponsor, Dr. Romay, and program alumni in a feast of turkey and all the trimmings. Members from Russia, Belarus, Colombia, China and Guinea shared their personal reflections on their first Thanksgiving and gratitude to the ESU for providing a welcoming community.
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My Magna Carta contestant from US wins Grand Prize
National News
Jane Josefowicz (center), from the Lincoln School in Providence, Rhode Island, won the overall Junior Prize in the English-Speaking Union International My Magna Carta Creative Writing Competition. She is shown here with her parents and the Chairman of The English-Speaking Union of the United States, Dr. Paul Beresford-Hill. The final round of the competition, where finalists presented their essays orally, was held on October 15 in London at Dartmouth House, the headquarters of the English-Speaking Union of the Commonwealth. Jane competed against students in the junior division from Australia, Chile, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius and the United Kingdom.
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2015 National Patron Tour: Ardgowan Scotland
National News
In September of 2015, fourteen National ESU Patrons gathered around a roaring fire at the home of Sir Ludovic Shaw-Stewart and the former Lady Shaw-Stewart (Cindy Chetwode) for an introduction to the next wonderful eight days touring Scottish countryside and stately homes. The grand 18th century William Adam home provided the quintessential Edwardian country house experience. The group gathered each morning for a full Scottish breakfast before visiting stunning country homes. ESU patrons were received daily and feted by owners of the homes including teas and luncheons. Every night the group gathered again for cocktails in the library before supper in the grand dining room surrounded by magnificent 18th and 19th century ancestral portraits.
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The ESU 2015 Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting
National Event Recap
The 2015 ESU Annual Conference, with the theme "General Washington Takes New York," took place October 10 - 12 at the Hilton Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel in midtown Manhattan. Branch Presidents were specifically invited to a day-long Conclave with National Board Members that took place all day Saturday just prior to the formal opening for the Conference, and the Board of Directors met that day as well.
Organized by National Headquarters staff, the ESU National Conference and Annual General Meeting comprised a series of meetings, lunches, dinners, receptions and tours over the Columbus Day weekend. Members assembled on Saturday evening, after the morning Board meeting and afternoon Presidents Conclave, for a reception and opening dinner in the hotel's Chrysler Room, which boasted a dramatic cityspace view with the the Art Deco style Chrysler Building towering overhead. . Prominent historical biographer, Flora Fraser, delivered the keynote address after dinner about her new biography The Washingtons, George and Martha: Join'd by Friendship, Crown'd by Love being published by Knopf later this year.
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ESU Celebrates Shakespeare 400
National Announcement
– Fall 2015
On April 23, 1616, William Shakespeare died in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and his extraordinary legacy began. Around the globe next year, theaters, universities, museums and schools will celebrate his plays and sonnets and their impact from Renaissance England to the entire world today. The English-Speaking Union will be taking part in this year-long celebration of the Bard's legacy. Learn more about ESU Shakespeare400.
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Dr. Paul Beresford-Hill Elected Chairman of The English-Speaking Union of the United States
National News
(New York, September 28, 2015) Dr. Paul Beresford-Hill MBE was elected Chairman of The English-Speaking Union of the United States unanimously at a meeting of its Board of Directors on September 27. His two-year term of office began immediately. Dr. Beresford-Hill was selected to lead the English-Speaking Union of the United States for his global experience as a scholar, educator, administrator and author.
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All the World’s a Stage for ESU Scholars at Shakespeare’s Globe in London
National News
2015 BUSS Scholars in Front of Dartmouth House
This summer, 25 American high school teachers participated as ESU British University Summer School (BUSS) scholars in the three-week Teaching Shakespeare Through Performance program at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. The Globe is a reconstruction of the 1599 Elizabethan playhouse on the River Thames, now a major cultural center in England. Many of the BUSS scholars attended on full scholarships granted by their local ESU Branches. They will return to their classrooms this fall equipped with new methods to teach Shakespeare.
For three weeks, the ESU BUSS scholars live and breathe Shakespeare, immersed in the life of this famous working theatre. They are instructed by Shakespearean scholars and members of the Globe Theatre Company responsible for design, direction, movement, music, text and voice. They have the chance to view Globe productions and concluded their course by performing selected scenes from As You Like It on the Globe stage.
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British Universities Summer School Fellowships 2015
National News
Medha Kirtane (ESU Princeton) and Courtney Powers (ESU Greenwich)
This summer, the University of Oxford has welcomed 19 American teachers as English-Speaking Union British University Summer Schools (BUSS) scholars to its International Summer School program. For three weeks, these American middle and high school teachers study English Literature, History, Politics and Society, or Creative Writing at Exeter College. Founded in 1314, Exeter is one of the oldest and most esteemed colleges at Oxford.
Medha Kirtane, a teacher sponsored by the ESU Princeton Branch currently studying Religion and Politics of the Middle East and the Politics and Economics of Globalization reports "The breadth of the academic focus, the curiosity and passion of my fellow peers, the rich learning environment and the access to great books and resources have really excited and humbled me. I have already experienced the freedom of fresh thoughts and provocative ideas that will stimulate my teaching."
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