Tony Cook gave remarks at the Talloires Network Conference to introduce the MacJannet Prize. He summarized the origins of the prize, which honors the legacy of Donald and Charlotte MacJannet, 20th century educators who created an international summer camp in France that promoted hands-on, experiential learning and cultural exchange. Their educational philosophy emphasized creating a welcoming environment, surrounding students with nature, encouraging risk-taking to help students reach their potential, and fostering multilingualism and cultural understanding. The MacJannet Foundation continues their work through international student scholarships and support for the Tufts University campus in Talloires, France.

1. Tony Cook – Remarks at the Talloires
Network Conference in Madrid, Spain 6-14-2011
Good afternoon. Before I tell you about the origins of the MacJannet Prize and

2. the people behind it, I’d just like to do one thing…
TONY TAKES A PHOTO OF THE AUDIENCE
Thank you. I wanted to take a picture of this distinguished audience and these
impressive prize winners …because the people in whose name we are making
these awards today – Donald and Charlotte MacJannet – would be absolutely
delighted to witness this event and see the wonderful work being done by
university students and instructors literally around the world.
The MacJannets are no longer with us, but I’m going to post this photo on
Facebook, on the off-chance that these two remarkable people might somehow
learn about it out in “cyberspace” and be able to celebrate with us today.
This picture is for you, Mr. and Mrs. MacJannet.
Because of the MacJannet Foundation’s partnership with the Talloires Network,
I would like to tell you more about the MacJannets themselves and how their
work as 20th-century educators directly relates to the community engagement
programs you have created and the student achievements we are recognizing
with the MacJannet Prize.
It all goes back to Paris, just after World War One. Donald MacJannet, was a
young American pilot – a graduate of Tufts University – who had flown an open-
cockpit plane over the skies of Europe in the “war to end all wars.” When the
conflict was over, MacJannet stayed on in Paris and began tutoring young
people from abroad who were living with their families posted to France.
He started with a single student. Soon there were two students, then three, and
before long he was running his own school.
Now Donald had almost no money and he didn’t even have a teaching
credential, but he was a natural educator who had a gift for both listening to and
inspiring young people. And he delighted his students with his enthusiasm and
belief in learning-by-doing – providing what we would call a “hands –on”
education. He made the process both challenging and fun.
At the MacJannet School in St.-Cloud in the 1920s and ‘30s, a history lesson
was a trip to a battlefield or an ancient chateau. Studying French literature
meant dressing up in 17th-century wigs and costumes and speaking lines written
by Molière. Learning math involved measuring the dimensions of a building and
then drawing it to scale.

3. Because he wanted to bring French and American young people together, he
and his German bride, Charlotte, started an international camp on the shores of
Lake Annecy in the French Alps, near the picturesque village of Talloires.
The camp wasn’t just for summer play. The MacJannets made sure there were
character-building lessons and practical knowledge provided every day.
At the MacJannet Camp, learning a language meant speaking it in conversation
with your fellow campers. Music class required that you first make a flute, then
learn to play it. You like sports? Go climb that 3500-meter mountain right over
there…and help your fellow camper from another country up the path.
The MacJannets’ educational philosophy was: First, create a warm, welcoming
and secure atmosphere. Second, surround young people from around the world
with beautiful natural surroundings. Third, provide the opportunity for students to
take risks in order to realize their full individual potential. And fourth, encourage
them to become bi-lingual, and familiar with cultures that were different than
their own.
They were thinking globally before their time...true internationalists before there
was a United Nations.
There were many people over the years who came under the spell of these two
inspiring educators, and their young lives were forever changed by the
experience. People like Indira Gandhi, a MacJannet camper, who led her
country as Prime Minister of India. And J. Potter Stewart, the American
Supreme Court Justice.
...Or our own Dr. Robert Hollister, distinguished Dean of Tufts Tisch College of
Citizenship and Public Service, one of the architects of the Talloires Network,
who during the 1950’s won the award as the most outstanding MacJannet
camper two years in a row. Congratulations, Rob.
In 1986, when Donald MacJannet died at the age of 92, he bequeathed his
summer home in Talloires, the beautiful 11th century Prieure, to his alma mater,
Tufts – or as the locals call it: Toofts. He and Charlotte also endowed the
MacJannet Foundation, a non-profit organization that for 43 years has
continued their work -- funding scholarships for international student exchange
at the graduate, undergraduate and high school level and helping to underwrite
programs that support the mission of the Prieuré in Talloires, now a thriving
campus of Tufts University... and the place where this network was first formed.
Today there are hundreds of beneficiaries of our foundation working around the
world in business, economic assistance, public health, diplomacy and

4. community development that bear witness to the commitment to international
understanding that the MacJannets championed in their lifetime. The vision we
established for our efforts is a community of global citizens.
When we launched the MacJannet Prize program three years ago in a
partnership with you, the Talloires Network members, we had no idea how
meaningful it would become – not only to the participants in the 24 programs
that have now been recognized as winners. But also in raising public awareness
across the globe about the value of community engagement and the importance
of the commitment by your universities to the development of civil societies.
We congratulate you, the participants in these pioneering community
engagement programs, and we salute you, the administrators of the colleges
and universities, for encouraging this important mission.
And we thank you, the winners of the 2011 MacJannet Prize, for your help in
building our community of global citizens.
Donald and Charlotte MacJannet would be very moved by your
accomplishments.
END