Tim Tai, Senior Photographer

University President Peter Salovey will travel to Africa and Asia this spring break — his last one at Yale’s helm. 

During his travels, Salovey will stop in Côte d’Ivoire and Hong Kong, he wrote in an email to the News, and will deliver a presentation about the University’s developments and strategic goals at the Yale Club of Hong Kong. He will also meet with government officials in Côte d’Ivoire to discuss economic development initiatives and educational collaborations.

“In 2013, during my inauguration, I committed to making Yale more global and unified. Since then, Yale has enhanced international research, teaching, and learning with partner institutions worldwide,” Salovey wrote to the News. “My successor will be able to build on all that we have achieved together at Yale in the past decade.”

Associate English professor and director of the Whitney Humanities Center Cajetan Iheka commented in an email to the News that Salovey’s trip to “cement existing partnerships and catalyze new ones” is “significant” given that the Yale Africa Initiative is now on its tenth anniversary. 

According to Salovey, the University has strengthened long-term relationships with the continent through the Yale Africa Initiative, which creates programs to expand its commitment to Africa abroad and on campus. The Yale Young African Scholars Program, founded in 2013, has increased the number of students from the continent on campus and their presence through student groups as part of the initiative. The creation of student groups like the Yale African Students Association and initiatives like the Yale Africa Innovation Symposium — which recently held its second annual conference — “exemplifies the student energy our increased engagement with Africa has generated,” Salovey told the News. 

“During the past ten years, Yale’s commitment to Africa has yielded wonderful results,” Salovey wrote. 

Iheka, who also serves as chair of the Council on African Studies and head of the Yale Africa Initiative, also wrote that he is “glad” a Francophone country landed on the president’s itinerary. 

He added that he hopes it will result “in stronger multidirectional exchanges” between the University and Africa. 

“We want to see more of Yale’s positive presence on the continent and to bring more of Africa to Yale,” Cajetan wrote. “President Salovey’s trip is a step in that direction. It allows us to foreground the achievements of the Africa Initiative and to set an ambitious agenda for the future.” 

Janette Yarwood, director of Africa and the Middle East in the Office of International Affairs wrote to the News that Salovey’s trip to Africa is a continuation of the University’s effort to form international collaborations around “issues of global importance,” including higher education access, economic growth and environmental preservation. 

Yarwood added that although the Africa trip’s focus is on educational collaboration and economic development initiatives, Salovey will also meet with students at the International Community School of Abidjan — as well as students from across the city — to encourage them to be “lifelong learners” and discuss “Yale’s educational philosophy.” Additionally, Yarwood wrote, Salovey will meet with local university presidents about “enhancing” Yale’s partnerships and educational exchanges with African institutions.” 

Salovey will also participate in “cultural immersion”  in the southeastern town of Grand Bassam, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2012, where he is expected to take a walking architecture tour. 

“President Salovey’s trip to Africa, his third as president, marks the broadening of outreach to include Francophone African countries,” Yarwood wrote. “Throughout his travels, President Salovey will engage in opportunities for networking to help strengthen the bond between Yale and alumni in Africa.” 

The Yale Club of Hong Kong will host Salovey on Tuesday, March 19, for a presentation about Yale’s “latest developments” and “strategic goals for the decade ahead,” according to the club’s site. 

OIA Director for Asia Jieun Pyun wrote to the News that beyond participating in the club’s event, Salovey will also meet with donors in the region. She added that accompanying the president will be School of Music Dean José García-León and School of Public Health Dean Megan Ranney. Both García-León and Ranney joined Yale within the past year and were awarded M.A. Privatim degrees, honorary masters degrees bestowed upon senior University officers, on March 4. 

According to Salovey, the University has worked to rebuild its “traditional strength in Asia,” amassing over 45 faculty members at Yale covering contemporary South Asia in fields including public health, astronomy, religious studies and economics.

“Overall, in the past decade, we have advanced strong collaborations around the globe,” Salovey wrote of his tenure’s impact abroad.

 Upon stepping down on June 30, Salovey plans to return to the faculty after a sabbatical.