Winston-Salem State University celebrated the first anniversary of its initiative to promote the Ralph Bunche legacy of global scholarship and activism, and to stimulate minority student interest in international studies and international leadership careers, on April 2 in room 207 of the Cleon F. Thompson Center.Funded in part by the Phelps Stokes Fund, a non-profit organization and America’s oldest foundation serving the needs of African-Americans, Native Americans, Africans, and the rural and urban poor, WSSU’s Ralph Bunche Society (RBS) has been recognized by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for being the first university in the nation to serve as a host site for a pilot program named in Bunche’s honor. The WSSU program serves as a model for other Ralph Bunche Societies.The RBS is designed to cultivate students’ global citizenship, foreign language skills, and Bunche’s values as an internationalist. The focus of these societies will primarily be on minority institutions. Bunche’s legacy is being heralded by the Fund because he served as a trustee for 20 years. The Phelps Stokes Fund has assisted WSSU financially and helped set up the program. At the anniversary event, RBS students were recognized for their travel, scholarship, and service. Speakers for the anniversary dinner included WSSU Chancellor Donald J. Reaves, North Carolina State Representative Larry Womble and Winston-Salem Mayor Pro Tempore Dr. Vivian Burke. The Keynote speaker was Ludwick “Luddy” Hayden, president and founder of Luddy Hayden and Associates (LHA), a public private partnership consulting firm.Hayden founded LHA, after completing a his career with Chevron, a multinational petroleum corporation. At Chevron, Hayden held several positions, including assignments in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Houston, New Orleans, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. In his last assignment as Chevron’s Manager of International Government Affairs, Mr. Hayden represented the company’s Africa business interests, traveling extensively throughout Africa, visiting over 15 countries and meeting several African Heads of State. Prior to joining Chevron, Hayden was an educator who taught in the Pittsburgh, PA., Public School System, and subsequently became an instructor and administrator at the University of Pittsburgh. Recognizing the cultural connections between African-Americans and Africans throughout the Diaspora, Hayden remains actively involved with several African focused non-governmental organizations. He holds board memberships with Africare, the Constituency For Africa, and the Africa Society. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America, and holds advisory positions with the International Foundation for Education and Self Help and the African Presidents Archives and Research Center at Boston University.The Ralph Bunche Society was developed to create a broader base of undergraduate student participation in global affairs – regardless of a student’s field of study – increase global and cultural awareness, develop language skills, hone student leadership skills, and increase minority student involvement in international arenas and the expanding global community.