Dr. Garry Bailey, like many people, spent his childhood riding his bike to and from his grandparents’ house. Only when Bailey rode his bike, he crossed into another country.
Bailey grew up in Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario, Canada. His mother’s parents lived across a small river in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. At the time, he didn’t need a passport or papers to get across, and nobody stopped him at the border.
About 30 years later, crossing the Canadian border, or any border for that matter, isn’t quite that easy, yet university faculty members continue to make the journey from their home countries to teach at institutions across the U.S.
Bailey is just one of 10 ACU faculty who do not have United States citizenship. The faculty members come from nine countries on six continents, and all have chosen to leave their home countries to teach at ACU.
Each faculty member has different reasons for coming, but all have experienced trials and triumphs throughout their journeys, and all bring something unique to ACU.
Fortune and Florah Mhlanga were born and raised in Zimbabwe, a small country in Southern Africa. They met in Zimbabwe, married in Zimbabwe and bore two sons in Zimbabwe. In 2002, they decided to leave their families and travel to the United States to teach at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala.
The family relocated to Abilene in 2007 to work at ACU. Florah, professor of animal science, and Fortune, director of the iSchool and professor of computer science, have two sons, Carl, 13, and Craig, 8.
Fortune said the couple was pretty much content with their lives in Zimbabwe but recognized the significance of the American job opportunity and thought that coming to the U.S. would give their sons more opportunities educational.
During the year they moved, Zimbabwe was experiencing political and economic turmoil, and the couple thinks the American teaching job was a God-given shield from everything that was happening.
Florah said being a resident of another country and having global experiences has allowed her to bring different examples and perspectives into the classroom.
In her animal science classes, Florah talks to her students about global issues such as population, environmental degradation and deforestation. Because of her experiences growing up in Africa, she said she has lived through those issues and brings a personal perspective to her classroom.
“In my classes, I bring examples that have been from my experience from growing up in Africa,” Florah said. “I can talk to my students about using cow dung for energy because I used that in my family growing up.”
And her students appreciate her examples. Tiffany Lutz, junior animal science major from Zelienople, Penn., said Mhlanga teaches more about what students can do outside of the U.S. than other professors.
In fact, when Lutz was interested in doing agricultural mission work abroad, she said Mhlanga was instrumental in providing her with advice and information on agricultural needs around the world.
The Mhlangas gained permanent residence status upon entering the U.S. and still are maintaining it. Although, they admitted that gaining permanent residence status can be a rigorous process.
Bailey came to the U.S. for college, graduating from Abilene Christian University and then continuing his education at Oklahoma University, eventually getting a job at Pepperdine University. He changed his immigration status to a work visa, so he could continue living and working in the United States – and he updated it each year until 2008, when he applied for permanent residence status.
While Bailey still had his temporary visa, the organization he worked for had to fill out forms each year in order for Bailey to keep his status. After years of forms, Bailey said it was easier to just apply for permanent residence.
“It becomes a real bureaucracy for someone trying to maintain a status,” Bailey said.
For Bailey, it was easier to apply for permanent residence status than to continue renewing his work visa. However, he said he spent $3,500 in the process.
Bailey married Janet, a U.S. citizen, and she became his sponsor for citizenship. Bailey said to apply for permanent residence status, he had to cancel a conference to sit in Lubbock for an entire afternoon to give his fingerprints and had to see an immigration-approved doctor, whom Bailey had to pay for out of pocket because the doctor was out of Bailey’s health network. Also, Bailey and his wife had to go through an interview process to prove the legitimacy of their marriage.
Dr. Alexander Karabegov (pronounced Cah-rah-BEG-ov), professor of mathematics and Armenian native, came to the U.S. from Russia in 2001. Like Bailey, he has filled out the appropriate paperwork to obtain permanent residence status but said forms are just a part of the process and worth it for the life he is able to lead in the U.S.
Karabegov was born and raised in Armenia, a former Soviet republic and now independent country nestled between Georgia, Azerbajdzan, Turkey and Iran. In 1975, he began attending Moscow State University as an undergraduate and then graduate student until he went back to Armenia in 1984.
In 1991, the Soviet Union broke apart, and Armenia became independent as a result. However, it also caused two wars on either side of the landlocked country, thus causing Armenia to lose its pathway to Russia, and Armenia’s economy collapsed.
Karabegov relocated to Russia to work at the Joint Institute for nuclear research, 100 miles north of Moscow in the city of Dubna.
A group of students from the Christian ministry, Let’s Start Talking, planted a church in Russia that Karabegov began attending. He was baptized in 1995 and became affiliated with the Church of Christ.
He moved to the U.S. in 2001 to work at Pennsylvania State University as a researcher for an eight-week visit and learned about job opportunities at the university. A year later, he, his wife and their twosons came to America, so he could teach calculus. In 2002, he started working for ACU.
Karabegov spent a period of years traveling through Europe, so he said he was accustomed to Western culture and said he has had a relatively easy time adjusting to life in America – but his two sons weren’t so lucky.
“I’ve had no difficulty whatsoever,” Karabegov said. “I was just doing my job. I didn’t feel any discrimination or anything. I’ve always been treated well by my peers and by my superiors.”
Karabegov folds his hands in his lap and looks away.
“It was very difficult for the boys.”
But Karabegov said he doesn’t like to talk about it.
Even though Karabegov was adjusted to Western life – he was not adjusted to small town Texas life. He said besides some obvious cultural differences, he was surprised by how space is organized here – he misses the sidewalks of city life.
“Here, if you don’t have a car – you’re stuck,” Karabegov said.
In fact, Karabegov obtained his first driver’s license in Texas at the age of 44. He described his first car as a lemon that quickly fell apart. Then an elder from a local church, who was a former car dealer, found Karabegov a green Ford Taurus, which lasted a little longer. Now, he said he drives a nice, reliable Honda.
After living in Abilene for three years, Fortune and Florah said the family is still adjusting to living in Abilene. The hardest adjustment, Florah says, is the rapid changes in weather.
When Florah complains about the heat, she said many of her friends say, “Well you’re from Africa,” but Florah said it actually gets a little hotter in Abilene. Also, the air is dryer, and the energy bills are higher.
But, the pair is willing to brave the West Texas climate to raise their family and teach at ACU.
Florah and Fortune said in their experience, kids adjust faster. The boys moved to the U.S. when they were 5 years old and less than 1 year old, so Florah said they don’t really remember living in Africa. However, the family has since revisited Africa to help the boys understand their history.
The couple said the major challenge of moving to the U.S. is not living close to their family.
For Dr. Qiang Xu (pronounced shoo), adjusting to the American education system was one of his biggest immigration challenges.
Xu, assistant professor of biology, immigrated to the U.S. from China in 2003 to attend graduate school and complete research. He and his wife flew from Shanghai to Dallas together but separated at the American airport. He went to Auburn University, and she went to the University of Oklahoma. After one semester, Xu said she moved to Auburn to finish her graduate studies.
“This country provides a lot of opportunities to recruit international students,” Xu said. “The U.S. provides a lot of assistantship and fellowship opportunities for international students. The research environment here, in this country, is friendly.”
However, the educational system is more competitive in China than in the U.S., Xu said. When Xu was growing up, only 10-15 percent of students made it into college. Now, Xu said it is closer to 50-60 percent. But the small numbers make students in each grade level competitive for the top college spots.
Also, Xu said Chinese professors and teachers directly point out to the students what they need to improve, as opposed to the Western educational method of encouraging students. In China, Xu was used to teachers telling the students what they were doing wrong, even if it made them mad.
When he moved to the U.S., he said he often asked American professors to be more direct with him, instead of just being encouraging. He also has had to curb his own classroom techniques – reminding himself to be more positive and less blunt.
Because Xu isn’t a U.S. citizen, he said he had to go through a very long background check process, so he could work at the research lab this summer. Also, certain types of research funding only are given to US citizens – making him unqualified.
He said he understands why systems are this way, but it still is difficult.
Bailey said his one ongoing frustration is citizens who have a sense of entitlement. Being a citizen is something to be proud of, but it also comes with responsibility, Bailey said.
“I think if people really want to emphasize their entitlement, let’s also recognize what it took for them to have that entitlement,” Bailey said. “There was brutalization of peoples. If you’re taking that entitlement, take that responsibility too. I think that’s more of a justice view of our identity and citizenship – just remember the past.”
Bailey is also a member of the Chippewa tribe, a Native American tribe that was around long before Columbus discovered America, technically making his ancestors more American than most people who live in the United States. However, he said he doesn’t focus on who is entitled to land, but that people can learn to get along with each other while maintaining their cultural identity.
“There is that weakness of humanity that believes in entitlement, and we’ve got to protect our own and we’ve got to have an identity,” Bailey said, “it’s just that we’ve got to figure that out and be able to coexist with other peoples, and be responsible.”
Overall, Xu enjoys his work environment. A traditional fan decorating his small office in the Department of Biology and his noticeable Chinese accent give students glimpses of his home country.
Dr. Jim Nichols, department chair and professor of biology, said ACU tries to be a place where faculty try to touch a wide variety of world views within a Christian context, and international faculty members help achieve that goal.
“Whenever we can bring people who have a totally different background, culturally, from mine, it expands the experiences I have, and it expands the experiences students have,” Nichols said.
International faculty also can provide a new look at Christianity, Nichols said.
“Dr. Xu is foundationally Christian, but almost everything else about him, culturally, is different than I am,” Nichols said. “That allows him to see Christianity through a different lens and be able to help me not be so narrow in the way I see Christianity.”
Xu and his wife work with Chinese and other international students, inviting them over for meals and Bible studies – something he didn’t expect when coming to ACU.
“I believe that education is powerful,” Xu said. “I would like to stay here to share my experiences with my students and to strengthen their faith – and I think that’s meaningful kingdom work.”
Xu and his wife have obtained permanent residence status and don’t have plans to move back to China.
Once an immigrant becomes a permanent resident, he or she doesn’t have to renew citizenship for ten years, according to the National Association of College and University Attorneys’ Immigration Law: Faculty and Staff Issues booklet. Permanent residents who have obtained their status through marriage can apply for U.S. citizenship after three years of living under permanent resident status. Those who have obtained permanent resident status through other means must wait at least five years to apply for U.S. citizenship.
Xu and the Mhlangas said they weren’t completely sure if they would choose to apply for U.S. citizenship, but Karabegov and Bailey said they do plan to apply.
Karabegov said he doesn’t feel nostalgia toward Armenia because after he left, many changes were made to the social system.
“There is no more of the country I used to live in. The country is gone because the social system has changed,” Karabegov said. “There is not the governance there used to be.”
He said people are hesitant to move when they’ve lived in the same place their whole life – a problem Karabegov does not have.
“I don’t have this feeling that I’ve lost something that’s not there,” Karabegov said. “I’m no longer attached to that place – now I’m getting attached to Abilene.”
Bailey, on the other hand, is struggling to maintain his Canadian roots while settling down in America.
“Canadians are fiercely Canadian,” Bailey said. “Not national, but cultural. Independent, our identity is sort of resisting dominance of America. We’re strange people.”
Yet, Bailey says living in the U.S. for so many years and starting a family in the U.S. makes it harder to pull up his American roots to go back to Canada, making U.S. citizenship a natural choice.
Amidst the frustration surrounding issues of U.S. citizenship, Bailey said he holds on to the message of Philippians 3:20, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ-”
“It’s almost like it’s become a battle. I want to maintain my Canadian identity – I don’t want to give in. But citizenship is in heaven, and our identity is all mixed up anyway,” Bailey said. “In one sense, I don’t belong. In another sense, I really feel like I do.”
St. Mary’s river divides Bailey’s Canadian hometown of Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario, Canada, and what he calls his other hometown, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
The width of the river is small, but the symbolic gap it causes between countries only increases from year to year. However, ACU faculty from all over the world dare to bridge this gap, bringing unique perspectives from around the globe.
