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• 02 / 24 / 2010

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A Southern Illinois University professor wants to establish a new center focused on educational exchanges between the university and Cuba.

Al Romero, dean of the college of arts and sciences at SIU Edwardsville, is working on a committee to establish a Cuban Caribbean Center within the SIU system. Romero made his first visit to Carbondale Monday to discuss the possibility of establishing the center during the U.S.-Cuban Relations symposium hosted by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute.

He said it is yet to be decided who will run the center if plans comes to fruition, but his trip to Carbondale will allow him to gauge interest in the center and to build relationships. The key to deciding who will run the center will be identifying who can best represent the center before the Cuban government.

"The idea is to build something that will include the faculty from both SIU campuses," Romero said. "It's basically to foster the academic relationships between SIU and all the academic institutions in Cuba."

Source: www.thesouthern.com