About HIS
International students in the United States now number over one million. Add to this number those who come as visiting scholars, researchers, and post-docs and the opportunity is compelling. It has been shown that those who have been engaged and influenced positively while studying here go back with changed thinking, desiring that their own countries have more of the caring and compelling ethics they see in America. The State Department has pointed out that if these internationals have a good experience in our country, they are more likely to want us as allies.
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Seeing this need, HIS International seeks to mobilize marketplace and academic leaders to inspire, connect, and equip international students and scholars to become principled leaders, resulting in positive change in their lives and the world.
Mission
HIS International is a partnership organization that mobilizes marketplace and academic leaders to inspire, connect, and equip international students and scholars to become principled leaders, resulting in positive change in their lives and the world.
Vision
Applying time-tested leadership principles, internationals become global marketplace leaders who reproduce themselves and transform the world.
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Global Leadership ForumHIS holds monthly GLFs on campus in Columbia and Charlotte. The forums consist of marketplace leaders who share their stories, talk about leadership lessons they have learned, and share how they integrate faith and values in the marketplace. In addition to the main speaker, marketplace and academic leaders serve as table discussion leaders to help clarify the lessons and form deeper relationships. At this event we collect information for a database in order to follow-up with these students and scholars.
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Global Leadership InstituteHIS has asked our leaders to prepare leadership courses that can be offered to the students. This is a great way to go deeper with the students and for them to share with each other. We use a variety of leadership materials. Students can pick the course or series that meet their needs and schedule.
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Global Leadership NetworkThis network consists of internationals who are students studying in the United States. They join their campus GLN and begin to network with other students, other GLNs, marketplace and academic leaders. This network begins face-to face and then expands to a variety of opportunities on social media and digital communication platforms. Hence the GLN connects leaders both locally and globally, affording a strong support system.
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All of the other things that we do ...Have special events for international students and scholars Connect the internationals to others in the community having special events Find an international student an American friend or language partner Connect an American and a student for dinner or an activity Have parties Provide lunches at BCM and CCFI or with other groups at USC or UNCC Connect students for English lessons or other needs Help students find rides for shopping or other places Help connect students with leaders in the community Help students with medical or job-related issues Teach American culture
Our
History
Get to Know Us
HIS (Helping International Students) International was officially founded by Pete and Patricia Cannon in 1991. The following year, with the help of donors, the house at 1711 Pendleton Street was purchased and renovated to become “The Hospitality House.” It evolved into a place where future generations of international students, international researchers, and visiting scholars would meet and find meaningful opportunities to interact with other internationals and Americans. At the HIS Hospitality House, internationals were invited to lunches and many other gatherings throughout the year. HIS has perpetuated a non-threatening “community” in which internationals have built relationships with Americans.
As time moved on, many global changes, such as the Internet changed the needs of International students as well as the approach for reaching them. Fewer students entered the United States with goals of staying, but instead hoped to return to their country of origin with higher degrees and skills that would make them successful and allow them to improve their home countries. Pete and Pat discovered that students were interested in learning leadership, ethics, entrepreneurship, networking, coping, and influencing. They also expressed a desire to study resume writing, interviewing, and learning things that would make them more valuable to employ and resilient in setbacks or failures. Students often expressed an interest in doing more for their countries, such as helping the poor or improving education.
This discovery resulted in the student-led Global Leadership Network, which began to meet these needs. HIS changed its mission statement to reflect this change in thinking, “HIS International is a collaborative organization that mobilizes marketplace and academic leaders to inspire, connect, and equip international students and scholars to become principled leaders, resulting in positive change in their lives and the world.” Pete realized that the focus of the work at HIS would change from solely being about hospitality and helps to being more about intentionally building principled global leaders.
Pete’s unexpected death in 2010 caused some setbacks to fully implementing the new mission. HIS was fortunate that family, friends, and the leadership team stepped in to help bridge the gap immediately after Pete’s death. In 2012, Pat Cannon accepted the position as Interim-President of HIS International and has found Reid Radtke to take HIS to its next level.
