Oxford Signs Sister City Agreement With Differdange, Luxembourg

By Laura Fitzgerald

Miami University journalism student

City government leaders from Differdange, Luxembourg and Oxford put pen to paper in the Oxford Lane Library on Monday, signing their names under the globe that used to sit in Shideler Hall on Miami University's campus. Their signatures formalized a relationship that started almost 50 years ago.

Differdange is home to the John E Dulbois Center, which will celebrate its 50 year anniversary in 2018. The center is a branch campus of Miami that allows many students to study abroad in Europe.

Doug Elliot, Oxford City Manager, says officials passed a resolution 18 years ago that encouraged the city to be a sister city with Differdange, broadening the relationship beyond the university. That resolution lay dormant until last fall, when the secretary of Differdange sent Elliot an email asking if they could formalize the resolution.

“The focus is developing a relationship,” Elliot says. “So we want to expand that relationship to include the city governments and the citizens.”

A Way Of Understanding

President Eisenhower proposed the forerunner to the modern sister cities program in 1956 to foster international relationships after World War II. The program was designed to foster cultural, educational, and economic ties between different nations in order to strengthen international diplomacy and understanding.

There are more than 2,300 partnerships in 150 countries across six continents, according to Sister Cities International. Two cities cannot be considered sister cities until they sign a formal agreement.

“So we think it’s a good idea to provide a way to increase our understanding of each other’s government, our culture,” Elliot says.

Building A Relationship

The delegates discussed ideas to bring the cities closer together while they visited Oxford. The agreement is just the first step in a much longer relationship and both governments are only beginning to figure out what exactly the relationship will entail.

One idea might be teaching high school students in each city about the other’s culture, Elliot says.

Karla Guinigundo, Director of Global Partnerships at Miami, says another idea might be to have the families who interact with Miami students studying in Luxembourg visit Oxford.

“It really adds a nice additional component to that relationship to where it’s not just the university’s relationship with the city but the city of Oxford’s as well,” Guinigundo says.

Dean of Libraries and former mayor Jerome Conley says another option that the two governments can explore is economic development. This includes promoting small businesses, Miami University, Oxford parks, and the Oxford Community Arts Center.

Economic development can occur when partnerships between companies in two sister cities become established. For example, a tiny engineering firm in Lakeland, FL, landed a $1.3 billion contract to design a theme park in its sister city in China, according to Business Insider.

Extending Hospitality

Two delegates from Differdange, secretary Henri Krecké and councilman Tom Ulveling, arrived in Cincinnati on Saturday and toured Oxford and Miami. The delegates had dinner with local government leaders and Miami faculty on Sunday night and ended their visit with the formal signing of the agreement and reception on Monday.

Krecké says he enjoyed seeing the sports facilities that Miami offers to students and to the community. The sports complexes are something that you don't see as much of in Europe, he says.

Krecké says he was also impressed by the robust relationship between the city of Oxford and Miami, and this agreement is a way to extend that relationship.

"It is an extension of public life in our two towns," Krecké says.

Conley says the delegates were received with open arms, showcasing the best that the people of Miami, Oxford, and Southwest Ohio have to offer.

“You can have beautiful buildings and you can have fantastic businesses but ultimately it’s the people that makes up a community,” Conley says. “And what we hope to show is the generosity of spirit, the hospitality and extend it.”

Photo: City government leaders signed two documents in both English and French, officially recognizing Differdange and Oxford as sister cities. --Photo by Laura Fitzgerald