Seventy-three students from sixteen different countries graduated from the Perry Center’s enhanced Security and Defense Policy (SDPe) course on Friday afternoon. Their walk across the Lincoln Hall auditorium stage signified the end of their two week session in Washington, DC. Former Ambassador to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana John Melvin Jones presided over the graduation ceremony, highlighting themes of regional cooperation in his keynote remarks. “No one nation can function in a vacuum,” Ambassador Jones explained. “We must use the power of our proximity, our closeness to work together.” He encouraged the students to put the “realistic” and “practical” lessons of the SDPe course into practice when they return to their home countries. These lessons, combined with efforts to improve regional cooperation, promise to “sustain national, regional, and international security.”

Each of the students received a certificate to recognize their successful completion of the SDPe course. The Perry Center faculty and staff wish to thank all of the course’s participants for a productive, engaging, and memorable session.