Forty years ago this fall, the first 35 Miami University Dolibois European Center (MUDEC) students traveled across the Atlantic Ocean by boat to start their studies abroad.
Come Oct. 14, the modern program-with 130 students per semester, faculty, staff, alumni and special guests-will be celebrating MUDEC's 40th anniversary.
Since 1968, about 10,000 students have studied at MUDEC, and the program will commemorate its success with a weeklong celebration of events, according to MUDEC Dean Ekkehard Stiller.
The week will kick off Tuesday, Oct. 14 with a reception and a formal dinner, held in the dining hall of the chateau, decorated by Stiller's wife, Renate, and the MUDEC staff.
Attendees will include Miami President David Hodge, Senior Associate Provost Mary Woodworth, faculty, staff and other friends of MUDEC, according to Stiller.
Throughout the week, there will also be a reception at the Séance Academique, a formal concert held in the multipurpose hall in Differdange/Oberkorn. The series of festivities will close with a formal dinner dance Friday Oct. 17.
"For me, the 40th anniversary will be coinciding with my final year as dean of MUDEC and a total of 25 years of most satisfying, rewarding and fulfilling affiliation with Miami University, and particularly, with MUDEC," Stiller said.
One of the friends Stiller has made at MUDEC is the troaterbattien, a Luxembourg brass orchestra. Stiller said he had done various favors for the group in the past, so its members were willing to play a concert, sponsored by the city of Differdange, and open to the public.
About 100 MUDEC alumni from the United States are planning to attend and members of the Luxembourg community are also invited, according to Assistant MUDEC Dean Raymond Manes.
"Luxembourgers are keen on being invited because it is something that they do not know," Manes said.
Manes said Luxembourgers do not celebrate in the same way as Americans do and are intrigued to see events like a 40th anniversary of a successful program.
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The final night will include a special dinner and dance, in which students will be able to mingle with certain special guests, including the grand duke and duchess of Luxembourg, government ministers, ambassadors and the president of the University of Luxembourg, as well as other business and community leaders, Stiller said.
According to Stiller, by coincidence, MUDEC students have also been offered free tickets to a concert in Luxembourg City Saturday evening, Oct. 19. The concert features the "Bang on a Can-Allstars with Glenn Kotche of Wilco," who performed on the Oxford campus Sept. 24.
"I'm excited that we are here for it," Miami junior Katie Anderson said. "Not only is it cool to come to MUDEC, but to be here for the celebration is in a way an honor. They make it appealing to everyone so we can all come together to celebrate as a whole."
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