Casablanca – The Moroccan-American Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange (MACECE) and Dar America hosted a reception yesterday at Dar America in Casablanca for more than 25 representatives of US colleges and universities visiting Morocco through the EducationUSA Morocco outreach and partnerships program.
The program runs in Casablanca and Rabat from October 4 to 6 and brings visiting American higher education institutions into contact with Moroccan students, schools and universities. The Casablanca reception gathered American higher education leaders, representatives from international K-12 schools in Morocco, diplomats from the US Mission to Morocco, Moroccan Fulbright alumni, and American Fulbright grantees currently in the country.
The evening centered on building long-term institutional partnerships between Morocco and the United States. The event also formed part of the Freedom 250 Initiative, which marks the 250th anniversary of American independence and 250 years of Moroccan-American friendship. The relationship dates to Morocco’s recognition of US independence in 1777. The year also marks the 80th anniversary of the Fulbright Program.
Participating US institutions included New York University, Fordham University, Temple University, George Mason University, Kent State University, the University of North Texas, Rowan University, and Minnesota State University, among others.
More than 20 Moroccan Fulbright alumni joined the visiting delegations. The alumni now work as professors and doctoral researchers at universities across Morocco, including Hassan II University of Casablanca (UH2C), Ibn Tofail University in Kenitra (UIT), Moulay Ismaïl University in Meknes (UMI), Ibn Zohr University in Agadir (UIZ), Hassan I University in Berrechid (UH1), Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (AUI), the International University of Rabat (UIR), the Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine (IAV), and University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P).
Several alumni also graduated from institutions taking part in the outreach program, including New York University. Their participation brought former exchange students together with institutions connected to their academic careers in Morocco.
Building academic partnerships between Morocco and the US
MACECE used the reception to meet US institutions in person and discuss potential areas of cooperation. Talks covered hosting Moroccan Fulbright grantees on American campuses, cost-sharing and other forms of institutional collaboration, as well as promoting MACECE programs for Moroccan students and scholars who want to study and conduct research in the United States.
The evening also celebrated what MACECE described as the United States’ longstanding leadership in higher education, research and innovation, along with the free exchange of ideas that has shaped the US-Morocco relationship for 250 years.
MACECE Executive Director Rebecca Geffner said the American universities and colleges at the reception represented a range of higher education strengths, from major research universities to colleges that focus closely on individual students.
“For 80 years, the Fulbright Program has connected that excellence with talented people around the world, and for more than four decades it has done so here in Morocco,” she said.
Geffner also pointed to joint research, faculty and student mobility, and shared investment in talent as areas that can strengthen both countries’ ability to innovate and compete.
“Tonight’s conversations can open American campuses to the next generation of Moroccan Fulbrighters and bring American institutions closer to one of their most important partners in Africa,” Geffner concluded.
US Consul General in Casablanca Christopher Deutsch said the anniversary offered a reminder that relationships between countries develop through people, with education playing a central role.
“Through MACECE and the Fulbright Program, generations of Moroccans and Americans have studied, taught, and learned from each other. The impact of those exchanges extends well beyond the program itself,” he said.
Deutsch added that the effects of these exchanges extend beyond the program itself and described Fulbright as an important part of the US Mission’s work in Morocco.
MACECE administers the Fulbright Program in Morocco and focuses on educational exchange, mutual understanding and people-to-people diplomacy between Morocco and the US.*
Read also: New Moroccan Fulbrighters Prepare for US Academic Journey at MACECE Orientation
