Gilbert Grosvenor visited with Elon students, faculty and staff during the day before his address to a full house Wednesday evening, Jan. 9 in McCrary Theatre. Details...
Grosvenor told Elon students, faculty and staff that geography is vitally important for a complete understanding of today’s world.
“I think of learning geography like learning vocabulary,” said Grosvenor, chairman of the National Geographic Society board of trustees, during lunch with about 40 students and faculty members. “You can learn the individual words, but if you can’t put them together and make sentences, then vocabulary is useless. Geography is much the same way. It is so much more than location. It’s the interaction of people, of transportation, of climate.”
During an hour-long question and answer session with students in Whitley Auditorium, Grosvenor said the United States must take the influx of Hispanic immigrants in this country seriously. Since 1990, legal Hispanic immigration into the United States has grown by 58 percent, and there are more than 35 million legal Hispanics living here.
“I feel the U.S. is not preparing itself to assimilate this Hispanic influx,” said Grosvenor. “We have to convince ourselves that this influx of immigrants is as profound as it is, and secondly, we must begin to work now to prepare for it.” He said he believes Hispanics should be required to learn basic English, “because being able to speak the language is absolutely vital to success.”
Grosvenor said he believes the United States must reexamine its immigration policy to protect the diversity of its population. “What made this country great was the fact that not any one group was so large that we lost our diversity. I would like to see balanced immigration. Our diversity is what made us great and I am afraid we are going to lose it.”
In the 1950s, Grosvenor joined the staff of the National Geographic Society, the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organization of its kind, as a picture editor. He served as editor of National Geographic magazine from 1970 to 1980 and has served as president of the National Geographic Society.