Babauta still wants Pacific Gateway project pursued

Northern Marianas College should still pursue the Pacific Gateway project or a similar program geared toward increasing the college’s foreign student population, Gov. Juan N. Babauta said.

In an interview, Babauta expressed regret that NMC decided to junk the Pacific Gateway project after its main proponent, former college president Kenneth Wright, resigned last year.

“My regret was that we did not pursue the Pacific Gateway project, which I thought was a brilliant idea for NMC. I think we had the opportunity to make NMC the education hub of the Pacific. Unfortunately, NMC took a different direction after the departure of Ken Wright,” Babauta said on Friday after signing the final memorandum of agreement transferring to the CNMI Executive Branch all of NMC’s obligations over the La Fiesta shopping complex.

“But regardless of what happened, I’m still behind NMC and I will continue to be supportive of the program that they want,” Babauta added.

The government purchased the mall in 2003 with the intent to convert the facility into a second campus that would house the international students to be recruited under the Pacific Gateway project.

The acquisition was ensued, however, by serious problems for NMC. Faced with a financial crisis and the placement of its accreditation on warning status, the college was forced to put the Pacific Gateway project on hold and later have the Governor’s Office take over La Fiesta.

But the facility will remain available for NMC’s use. A provision in the transfer agreement states that the governor will allow the college to lease the facility back to NMC for $1 a year, should the college come up with a proposal for the utilization of the real property or the mall.

Babauta, a staunch supporter of the Pacific Gateway project, said NMC could still make the program a reality.

“I think the CNMI has all the makings of an educational hub. We control our own immigration and there has been no threat of a federal takeover for sometime. We also have the proximity and access to students in Asia who may want to study English on U.S. soil. We can still do it,” Babauta said.

NMC, under the leadership of president Tony Deleon Guerrero, is currently developing the Global Education Initiatives program, which is similar in concept to the Pacific Gateway but places more emphasis on recruiting students from Pacific island nations.