Greg Siegler: “FIUTS” means BELONGING

Speech delivered during the 75th Anniversary Donor Appreciation Reception, November 9th, 2023.

My name is Greg Siegler.* I have been involved with FIUTS for a long time now. I have been a trustee for over 15 years. And my family and I have also been donors—small-time donors—to FIUTS, and homestay hosts, to wonderful students here from so many countries—from African countries, Asian countries, European countries, South American countries.

I am nervous right now, but let me tell you why. It's not because I get nervous about public speaking; I don't especially, and in fact you may have trouble shutting me up. It's because to me this topic is just about the most important thing in the world, and I don't want to mess up this moment. In fact, this moment is a dream for me, to be able to “preach” about FIUTS, about connecting people across borders.

I’m supposed to talk to you about Belonging, about how FIUTS fosters Belonging.  But honestly that's too easy. Belonging is what FIUTS does; in fact, we always joke that people ask, "Mommy, what's a FIUT?," but I bet "Belonging" is what "FIUTS" actually means in some language – maybe in all of them.

The thing is, when we FIUTS (yes, I used it as a verb, sorry), we are our best selves. When we welcome visitors into our homes.  Into our schools.  Into our universities. Into our country. Into our culture. And when we learn about theirs. Our best selves.

Greg and family with some of their past students. 75th Host Appreciation Dinner, Nov 7, 2023

I often tell the story of the first time I traveled to another country without my parents, to study abroad. It was in Germany, in Berlin, in January, when it is cold and dark and snowy there. Exhausted, I managed to communicate to a taxi driver what address to take me to, but when I arrived at the flat of the people to whose home I was assigned, there was no one home.

With FIUTS, there is always someone home, to welcome our student visitors. Some of my favorite moments in life are when I get to go to the airport to receive a FIUTS student arriving after a long journey for maybe their first time in our city, our country, our continent, often their very first time outside of their own country.  And I—or you—get to be the person who receives them, who welcomes them, who already knows their name and a little bit of their story, who creates that first impression of what their new lives here will be like, who makes it warm for them, who starts to dispel some of the fears that they brought with them. For instance, every single student sooner or later asks me if it is safe to walk in our neighborhood, whether everything they have heard about guns and bullets in America will mean danger for them. With FIUTS— with you —we are able to show them safety here. And, Belonging.

Greg Siegler has been working at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the past 10 years and has been involved with FIUTS for twice that long. A longtime member of our Board of Trustees and donor to FIUTS, Greg and his family are also longtime homestay hosts for FIUTS. Most of all, Greg is a believer in the power and the value of international and intercultural education.

Greg Siegler speaking at 75th Donor Appreciation Night, Nov 9, 2023

Greg’s family and FIUTS Executive Director, Era Schrepfer (R), 75th Host Appreciation Dinner, Nov 7, 2023