Imagine eating nothing but meatloaf, burgers and fried chicken. No pizza, spaghetti, kung pao or tacos.

Even at the dinner table, a world with no international connections seems a little empty and boring. Certainly, the world has more to offer than food — there’s movies, literature, technology and different ways of approaching problems. Global connections enrich us in large and small ways, from bridging cultural gaps to trying a new spice with your dinner.

To embrace these connections is not to be anti-American, but to accept a fuller picture of what it means to be an American. A great strength of our culture centers on the ability to absorb the best of other places and give it our own unique spin.

In this spirit, the opening of º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇøâ€™s Global Center represents something more substantial than a rebranding effort or a photo op near a large allotment of flags. Any institution of higher learning serves as a city’s window to the world.

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