Junction 91 Remarks
Below are remarks from the Junction 91 Gathering in New Delhi, India, January 30, 2026.
Good afternoon. Thank you for being here, and thank you for letting me speak briefly as both a sponsor and, more importantly, as a colleague who believes deeply in this work.
I’m Blair Thomson, Senior International Officer at the University of Mississippi. We are proud to sponsor Junction 91, not as a branding exercise, but as an investment in the kind of international education that still works. This is one of the few spaces where hope is practical, grounded in real partnerships, real people, and shared responsibility.
At the University of Mississippi, global engagement is not peripheral to who we are. It is woven across our academic and institutional fabric, from engineering and business to law, public health, and the humanities. We offer robust study abroad and exchange programs, growing dual and pathway partnerships, and strong support structures for international students throughout their time with us – and beyond. Just as importantly, our campus is known for its sense of community. Students are not anonymous at Ole Miss. They are known, supported, mentored, and welcomed into a campus culture that still believes education is deeply relational, not transactional.
But I want to be honest for a moment. The world feels heavy right now. The news is relentless. Leadership in many countries, particularly the United States, feels reckless at best, and cruel at worst. And recent events in the United States, including what students are seeing and hearing about places like Minneapolis, create real fear. Not abstract fear. Human fear. The kind students carry quietly when they decide whether to cross borders, oceans, and expectations.
We see that fear. We do not dismiss it. And we still believe the work we do matters, perhaps more now than when things feel calm.
I know it sounds cliché to say that study abroad contributes to world peace. It does. And clichés become clichés because they are often true. If more people had experienced being the outsider, navigating another culture, depending on the kindness of others, learning humility, we might see less nationalism built on fear and more leadership grounded in empathy. Cultural competence is not a soft skill. It is a critical, human skill and a survival skill for the world we actually live in.
Study abroad is also about community. We talk a lot about outcomes, rankings, credits, and careers. But what students remember is finding their people in another place. That social engagement matters now more than ever, especially in a world where students can earn degrees online or study in their home country on a branch campus. Immersion teaches skills no credential alone can capture. Things like learning how to work in teams across difference. Navigating misunderstandings. Empathy. Adaptability. Celebrating the small wins together, or the big wins, like Ole Miss making it to the College Football Playoff Semifinals (which is, in fact, a really big deal). That sense of belonging changes how students see themselves and how they show up back home. Community is not a side benefit. It is the whole point.
At the University of Mississippi, we take this responsibility seriously. We know what it means when a student chooses us sight unseen. When they leave home for a semester or four years or more and place their trust in our institution. We do not take that lightly. We believe in hospitality. We believe in care. We believe students deserve to feel safe, supported, challenged, and welcomed.
I want to say this clearly. The United States will not always look this chaotic. Those of us working in international offices are steady even when politics is not. We recognize the courage it takes to come anyway. We love our international students. We recognize they make our campuses better. And we want them not just to succeed academically, but to thrive as whole people.
That belief is why gatherings like this matter, which brings me to my thanks.
I want to sincerely thank Gen Next Education for the vision behind this gathering, and especially Girish Ballolla and Preetika Sachar. Junction 91 is not transactional. It is thoughtful. It creates space for real conversations about partnership, reciprocity, and shared futures, which does not happen by accident. It happens because of the care and intentionality of all of us gathered here.
As international educators, we are sometimes accused of being naïve. I am comfortable with that. Hope is not ignorance. It is a choice. And in a world that is increasingly loud, polarized, and fearful, choosing hope through education is a radical act.
So, thank you for being here. Thank you for believing that crossing borders still matters. And thank you for continuing to do this work with integrity, humility, and heart.
We are proud to be part of this community. Thank you.