By Daniel Johnson, Sports Editor

Along with the more than 500 graduates, 24 students from Madagascar will cross the stage in Moody Coliseum on May 10 as a ceremonial recognition of their achievements.

Earning a degree in America is rare among the Malagasy people, and for the Malagasy students who have called ACU home for the last four years, it is just the beginning.

“In a way I’m relieved,” said Joelly Rasamoelina, senior sociology major from Fianaratsoa. “But then again a bachelor’s degree is only one step for what we were chosen for.”

The two-dozen Malagasy students came to ACU in 2004 as part of the Madagascar Presidential Scholars program initiated by Malagasy President Marc Ravalomanana. Thanks to the Malagasy government, the World Bank, Dr. John Tyson, vice president for development, and other university officials, the students were selected to come to ACU. They were chosen from among more than 1,000 applicants, and now, four years after their long journey to this West Texas campus, some of them say their ACU experience was a gift they must find a way to repay.

“I just want to be a part of things that would make changes happen in Madagascar,” said Laza Razafimanjato, senior interior design major from Antananarivo . “Some of [the Malagasy students] want to work and help in different ways, but ultimately it’s going to come down to helping Madagascar in
whatever way we can.”

Madagascar is an island country off the coast of South Africa that Ravalomanana is working to build into a strong nation. According to the International Monetary Fund, Madagascar is No. 125 in the list of the world’s countries’ wealth based on its Gross Domestic Product.

Razafimanjato said he plans to study architecture at Texas A&M University after graduation but eventually wants to go home and find a way to use the skills he learned at ACU to help his developing country.

“I feel like I need to do it because I’ve been given much,” Razafimanjato said. “I’ve been blessed with so much coming to the United States and studying at ACU, but I feel like there is something that could be done in Madagascar.”

Although it was hard at first, the Malagasy students who come from all six provinces and 15 different regions of Madagascar, all found their role and place on campus, said Rotsy Rasamimanana, senior management major from Antananarivo.

Rasamimanana tutors students for Alpha Academic Services and said she made lifelong friends while playing intramural sports.

Razafimanjato was an officer in the International Students’ Association, participated in Sing Song, had an on-campus job and even won an intramural volleyball championship – he said it was all part of his learning experience at ACU.

But not every experience for every Malagasy student was pleasant.

Because of the spotlight the university shined on the Malagasy students when they first arrived at ACU, Rasamoelina said she often felt pressure and sometimes thought she did not receive the credit she deserved for her hard work as a student.

“I really did get tired of hearing how special the group is,” Rasamoelina said. “It was a struggle to be able to study and stay focused when you had dinner here and lunch there . not just that, but it created a tension in the classroom I never really wanted.”

Rasamoelina said she sometimes thought other students in her core curriculum classes thought she was making good grades because she was one of the Malagasy students, not because she had earned them. But after she got deeper into her degree and took more of her major classes, the spotlight faded, and the pressure was lifted.

“I left one family at home, but I’m leaving 10 families here,” Rasamoelina said. “I think ACU really challenged me, in a lot of ways, but also, it is very supportive environment. I have grown to become someone that I don’t know I could have, had I been at a different institution.”

-FOUR YEARS IN THE MAKING-

In the fall of 2004, 22 Malagasy students enrolled at ACU as part of a government-sponsored program enacted by the Madagascar government.

Information taken from the Aug. 27, 2004, issue of the Optimist.

A plan was developed to send Malagasy students to ACU on a fouryear, fully paid scholarship funded by the government of Madagascar called the Madagascar Presidential Scholars Program. Advertisements for the scholarship appeared in May on national radio, television and newspaper ads in Madagascar.

Applications from 1,031 people came from all over the nation for the program. The requirements for the scholarship are that the students complete their degrees in four years and return to Madagascar for at least two years upon graduating. Applicants also had to have a basic understanding of the English language.