Press Release

Rotary and Halle Foundation Sponsor
International Student Conclave at Oglethorpe

ATLANTA – The Dunwoody and Atlanta Rotary Clubs, the Halle Foundation and Oglethorpe University are sponsoring the seventh annual conclave of international students over the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend (January 18-20). Over the three days, the students will mix fellowship with presentations by several Atlanta based non-profits, a workshop on leadership and communication and hands-on participation in Paintfest, sponsored by the Foundation for Hospital Art.

The students are part of the Georgia Rotary Student Program (GRSP), a unique program within Rotary International that seeks to spread peace and understanding by inviting nearly 70 outstanding young people from around the world to attend a college or university in the state of Georgia. The students live in school housing and they each have one or more host families, Rotarians from metro clubs who volunteer to give these young people a home away from home during their year in Georgia.

The students meet several times a year in gatherings called conclaves. Most of the conclaves are social in nature. The “MLK Conclave,” the brain child of Dunwoody Rotarian and financial consultant Fred Brandt, is focused on a serious mission. “The objective of GRSP, promoting world peace through understanding, is so similar to what Dr. King believed in,” says Brandt.

The conclave begins Friday with the Balashikha Project, a collaboration between the Atlanta Rotary Club, retired Emory physician Alfred W. Brann and Russian hospital officials focused on reducing the infant mortality rate. Following the project, MedShare International which gathers medical equipment and distributes it to underserved locations around the world, will present to the students.

Saturday students will attend the “Effective Communication for Leaders” workshop and will then participate in a Paintfest project. Students from 22 different countries will paint murals which will be distributed by the Atlanta-based Foundation for Hospital Art to nine different countries around the world.

On Sunday morning, the students meet and decide as a group if they wish to pursue a long-term service project. If so, Rotary offers them $5,000 to fund the initiatives and the students spend the day organizing the project.

The Halle Foundation, a legacy of Coca Cola executive and international philanthropist Claus Halle, provides significant financial support for this weekend.