McDaniel College

The McDaniel College offers an exciting and colorful program, and spreads democratic values in its Budapest Campus. Moni Oyeyele reports.


Entering the age-mellowed gate of its cosy building right in the old school quarter of District VII, one of the first things one can notice is the sense of community that defines McDaniel College (formerly known as Western Maryland College Budapest). You will see professors of high scientific ranks chatting with students over lunch in the cafeteria, or even cheering from the sidelines of a soccer match. But what makes this school really charming, besides its life-changing opportunity diploma courses, is the inspiring unity in diversity, taken as a mission by the leaders of McDaniel.
Indeed, the McDaniel College Budapest Campus has a truly international student body, with students from the U.S., Spain, Nigeria, Japan, and the United Kingdom, to name a few. Beyond that, since 1998, McDaniel Budapest yearly welcomes a changeable number of students from the main campus for a one-semester study abroad program. They are accompanied by a visiting professor from the Maryland faculty who teaches courses in Budapest. At the same time, many students who started their studies in Budapest have graduated from McDaniel College in the US. They have been able to fulfill the requirements for graduation within 4 years, despite the temporary difficulties that can come from the need to adjust to a new environment in Westminster.
“Our four-year liberal arts college is accredited in the United States, and traces its direct origins to the dynamic period following the change of regime in Hungary”, Prof. Dr. László V. Frenyó PhD, Dean of the Faculty, informs. “Its European program was established in collaboration with College International, a Hungarian educational enterprise, in 1994. The founders envisaged a four-year American undergraduate degree program in Business Administration and Economics, leading to the award of a Bachelor of Arts degree from what was then Western Maryland College, whereby students would spend the first two years in Budapest, Hungary, and would complete their studies on the main campus of the College in Westminster, Maryland.”
The first academic year of the program was launched in the fall of 1994 with 35 students. Today, McDaniel gives educational home to 108 students (average, 17 students per class); and hosts a number of clubs, forums, organizations, and sport activities; last but not least, the opportunity to study at the only U.S. college campus in Hungary.
“The first major programs (Business Administration and Economics) were established in order to respond to the new needs in Hungary and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe generated by the transition to a market economy”, says the professor. “Soon, however, it became apparent that a wider range of academic programs was needed. Communications and Political Science, then Studio Art and Art History were added to the choice of majors in Budapest.”
As a consequence, the scope of major and elective courses has expanded steadily over the years with a view to providing all core courses in Budapest for each major and consolidating all aspects of the academic program.”
The result is an exciting and colorful program that satisfies McDaniel College’s Liberal Arts requirements, and offers on- and off-campus extracurricular opportunities for academic achievement and personal and cultural enrichment.

Democratic values

As Frenyó informs, throughout the previous years, the visa procedure for McDaniel Budapest students to transfer to the main campus was smooth and unhindered. McDaniel Budapest students enjoyed the privilege of being able to apply for a student visa in Budapest regardless of their citizenship, as the Embassy of the United States in Budapest considered the successful completion of the first two academic years at an American college as adequate proof of the international students’ intent to complete their upper two years in the U.S. in order to graduate from college.
“The first visa refusals occurred after the 9/11 disaster”, the professor recalls. “Following these, the decision was made in Westminster to extend the Budapest program to a four-year degree program, thus providing an opportunity for those who have no chance to complete their studies at the main campus to complete them here. The philosophy of the program, however, has not changed. The aim is still to encourage as many students as possible to apply for the visa, to join the home campus, and to earn their degree there.”
And for those who have to stay in Budapest, the parts of the program once not offered here have been provided in order for students to fulfill all graduation requirements.
“What I most love here is that teachers make sure we understand everything they teach us”, Bethy Aromana Okam, a preparatory student from Nigeria, enthuses. “Although learning Hungarian is a bit hard for me, I find the teaching quality of all subjects very high, and school life at McDaniel really makes me feel inspired, scientifically excited, and forget about this terrible cold,” she laughs.
As one of the exciting programs of the college, the first annual McDaniel Research Prize Contest was held in McDaniel College Budapest on 4 December. To participate, contestants had to submit a paper of at least five pages in length. The papers submitted had to be related to something that the students had studied in the college,but not necessarily from the present semester. In total, ten papers were submitted, covering many different subjects including history, political science, literature, communications, psychology, or combinations of those subjects. The jury, composed of four faculty members and three students, took into consideration the development of ideas, clarity of language, depth of analysis, and sound use of resources, quality of exposition, and that of the evidence of expertise in the field into consideration, and were said to have been very pleased with the results.
“One should not forget that most of the students come from countries that have abandoned an autocratic political structure in the recent past or are still under such a system,” Frenyó reminds. “Nothing could be more important, therefore, than encouraging democratic values and strengthening civil society through education, and the liberal arts are essential to that mission. McDaniel College, having an extended arm in the heart of Central and Eastern Europe and offering those values, plays an important role in helping individuals learn to exercise global citizenship and civil responsibility.”

Moni Oyeyele

12.12.2008