Recently Charles Russo made it possible for the United Nations and the University of Dayton to be in the same sentence.

The UD Panzer Chair in Education

and adjunct law professor presented

recommendations at the United

Nations Forum on Minority Issues Dec. 15-16. The forum addressed six different minority issues, of which Russo made recommendations on the topic of "The Relationship between

De-Segregation Strategies, Cultural Anatomy and Integration in the Quest for Social Cohesion."

Stepping inside Russo's office, one sees a cluttered desk with books and files, something that isn't unlikely for someone who has published over 150 journals and contributed to about 20 books. Russo himself is refreshingly

modest and warm. He was kind enough to sit down with Flyer News to discuss his background in education

and his recent experience at the U.N. conference.

Flyer News: What specifically was the U.N. forum about?

Charles Russo: It was a gathering

of about 500 people. I was one of about 40 invited experts, one of eight or 10 from the United States. The goal was to come up with some recommendations

of how the kids can get an education. One of the things I talked about was that education should be integrated. I suggested they treat education as an integrative,

rather than segregative, factor and create integrated, rather than merely desegregated, school systems

that are open to all children, regardless of their religious beliefs and ethnic origins. Trying to come up with standards for nations who don't believe in that can be a problem.

It's idealistic sounding, ought to be. I've done a few of these in Bosnia and Jerusalem and it not so easily translates into practice. Not wanting

to get political, but the bravery of people coming out to talk is remarkable.

They come out and make these efforts and get beaten when they return

to their countries.

We as the so-called experts were responding to a series of documents. You've got five minutes and every word has to count. I don't like to call myself an expert, though.

FN: Overall, how would you say the conference went?

CR: The organizers were real satisfied

with the input they had from it. And it went the full time. Lot of friendly exchanges with people. I hate to get political or religious, but a Muslim guy really disagreed on the whole principle of integration. It was progress that he could just disagree. I've done conferences like these before

and you just don't have the ability

to discuss openly and calmly.

FN: What can you tell us about your fellow Americans who were invited

to present?

CR: I didn't know any of them. I'm always interested in making more connections. A couple of them were from the American Civil Liberties

Union. There was a former dean of Stanford. It was their first opportunity

to present in a forum like this. There's a kind of protocol to it. I think they were a little troubled by it. [The U.N. council is] really looking

for a few good talking points, not a talk about a broad topic. You have to be specific.

FN: If you could tell Dayton students

one thing about their right to education, what would it be?

CR: Appreciate the fact that we do have the right. Living in the U.S., we pretty much have the right to do whatever we want. I've been really lucky. In other countries, you don't have those opportunities for education. We are really very lucky, just take advantage.