President's Blog: From the Heart

By Eric F. Spina

In a spacious hangar in the National Museum of the United States Air Force last Sunday night, the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra delivered a stirring performance before world leaders and guests. As the symphonic music soared in harmony, I thought, “This is an aerospace engineer’s dream to sit among historic planes and listen to classical music."

It was also an extraordinary opportunity to be part of history as more than 1,000 visitors from 45 nations gathered in Dayton for the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the first time the event has been held in the U.S. since 2003. Why Dayton? This year marks the 30^th anniversary of the historic Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war in Bosnia.

That evening I had the honor of dining with Vjosa Osmani, president of the Republic of Kosovo, and meeting Gordan Grlic Radman, the foreign minister of the Republic of Croatia, under the wing of Air Force One, a Boeing 707 that once served John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. I was touched by Minister Radman’s thoughtful gift of a collection of books about Croatia and its role in the Balkan peace process, which I will add to our library. Over dinner, I listened to NATO officials and heads of state from the Balkans talk about global security, democracy, and the power of diplomacy to end conflicts.

In a word: inspiring.

As part of the five days of meetings, the University of Dayton rolled out the welcome mat and opened our doors to the campus, the community (and the world) in the Roger Glass Center for the Arts for 12 “Dayton Dialogue” sessions — panels about peace and security with distinguished diplomats, leaders of think tanks, and public intellectuals.

Kudos to Congressman Mike Turner ’92, a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, for his efforts in bringing the meetings to his hometown and the public forums to his graduate alma mater. He’s a stalwart believer in "NATO as a tool and voice for democratic institutions" and believes there are lessons from the truce that ended the bloodshed in Bosnia that can be applied to today's war in Ukraine. After all, "Dayton" became shorthand for peace after three intense weeks of diplomatic efforts in a secure site at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base brought stability to a troubled region of Europe three decades ago.

That's why, in my welcome to panelists and the audience at the kick-off forum that focused on allied global strategy and the war in Ukraine, I noted that the ideas and opportunities developed here could have positive ramifications for the nation, NATO, and, by extension, the world.

For UD, the upshot was largely educational. Professor Natalie Hudson, executive director of the Human Rights Center, presented her research about women, peace, and security (WPS) with parliamentary members from across the NATO alliance in a closed session. "WPS policies and practices make a real difference in the lives of women and girls (and men and boys) who are living in armed conflict, who are working toward peace, and who are making decisions about international peace and security," she said.

"Connecting the local with the global — and translating research in applied and practical ways is what I am deeply passionate about and hope that it makes a difference."

Tyler Demmitt, a senior criminal justice and political science major from Troy, Ohio, said he learned more about the significance of the Dayton Peace Accords and the consequences for the world at the forums. He recognized the significance of the moment, too: "As a native to Dayton, I find it so cool that the world was able to see the city."

And the city, the world.