Sept. 17, 2003

Powell Headlines 1957 E St. Opening

Secretary Delivers Major Policy Address, Includes Reflections on His GW Education and Experiences

By Greg Licamele

US Secretary of State Colin L. Powell is no stranger to the University and Foggy Bottom. In addition to the Department of State’s location across the street from the Elliott School of International Affairs’ new home, Powell spent two years at GW as a student, something he reflected on during his Sept. 5 policy address at the grand opening of the 1957 E St. building at Lisner Auditorium.

“It was an important period in my life,” Powell said. “My third child was born while I was a student here. I saw turmoil in my country. I watched riots in the city. I saw tear gas float across this campus… But things turned around for me in a personal way at GW, and a few years later… we got through that terrible period.”

Powell first learned of his acceptance to GW’s MBA program while near the end of his second tour of duty in Vietnam on June 15, 1969.

“Earlier that day I had been out at a landing zone — not far from a place called Duc Pho, watching a rifle company return from patrol in the Vietnamese jungle. I was already in some ways in a kind of graduate school, the graduate school of war, a school, a place, where people were shooting at you. On that day… I was anxious to return home, return to my family. And thanks to that letter from GW, I now knew where I was headed.”

Powell said his GW education opened a new world for the South Bronx native and his eventual 34-year Army career.

“I learned more here than data processing and business technique,” Powell said. “I learned about real management and genuine leadership. Most of all, as each and every one of the students here is learning now, I learned about my own potential. I discovered a part of myself I didn’t know for sure was even there.”

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu

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Powell Addresses US Foreign Policy

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