Erin Moore

Yahoos, Hoyas, and global values

Posted April 12th, 2007 at 7:26 am by Michael Samway, VP & Deputy General Counsel

Number of Comments No Comments / Filed in: Trends & News

Georgetown UniversityFew places like a university campus buzz with such contrasts of relentless skepticism and unbridled hope, outward curiosity and elevated self-absorption, elegant theories and gritty realities. Georgetown University, boasting students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries, is a school alive with the energy of student and faculty discourse and scholarship on today’s most vexing international topics.

I felt the energy there earlier this year while leading a discussion on Yahoo! and global values in a graduate seminar on ethics and international business at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. The students asked tough and direct (and not unsurprisingly, diplomatic) questions about Yahoo!’s application of values-based decision-making in our global business operations, showing a sophisticated understanding of technology and human rights issues.

Back on our own buzzing campus, headquarters to a company with hundreds of millions of global users and offices in nearly 25 countries, we too have been actively engaged with issues that arise at the intersection of international human rights and the Internet. I’ve blogged a few times now on Yodel Anecdotal about our involvement in the broad-based dialogue focused on creating a set of global principles and operating procedures regarding freedom of expression and privacy.

Over the past six months, while traveling back and forth to Washington, D.C. for meetings with human rights groups, for rounds on Capitol Hill, and to present at the State Department, I also met with Georgetown leaders to discuss partnership opportunities in the area of technology and global values. And now, as a further step in our engagement on business and human rights issues, we’re announcing a $1 million gift to Georgetown University to establish a Yahoo! International Values, Communications, Technology, and Global Internet Fellowship Fund.

The fund will support the education and research activities of an annual Yahoo! Fellow in Residence and two Junior Yahoo! Fellows who will study the link between international values and Internet and communication technologies. Georgetown will choose the Yahoo! Fellows from candidates in the corporate, government, academic, and civil society sectors with an interest in markets like Brazil, Russia, India, and China. We’ll remain actively involved in the work of the Yahoo! Fellows, partnering with Georgetown in seminars, research, publications, conferences, and other engagements with students, faculty, policy-makers, and the public.

This initiative will complement the Yahoo! International Journalism Fellowship we established last year through a similar gift to Stanford University’s John S. Knight Fellowships program. The Stanford fellowship focuses on journalists from press-restrictive countries, with the first fellow coming from Pakistan and next year’s fellow coming from Zimbabwe. The first Yahoo! Fellow at Georgetown will start in the fall of 2007.

Georgetown’s global reach and location in Washington, D.C., its prestigious School of Foreign Service, its reputation for international leadership, and the regular access it provides its students and faculty to legislative, judicial, and executive decision-makers, make it uniquely central in the debate on human rights and technology. We’re excited about the productive possibilities for Internet users globally offered by a Yahoo!-Georgetown partnership.

Michael Samway
VP & Deputy General Counsel

Rate: 1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (Average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

Post a commentPost a Comment Bookmark ThisBookmark This Digg ThisDigg This

Post a Comment:

Notes: Please note that Yahoo! may, in our sole discretion, reject comments for any reason we deem appropriate. Links of value to readers are welcome, but please use them sparingly - wield spam and you're banished forever.

This is a moderated site and comments will appear if and when they are approved. We will review the queue several times daily, so please don't resubmit if your comment doesn't appear immediately.

Close This Box

Enter your email address:

Recent Posts:

Our response to Carl Icahn
May 15, 2008

Live from the Roosevelt Room
May 15, 2008

Business and human rights
May 7, 2008

Do you know where your mouse has been?
May 5, 2008

Ok, so now what?
May 4, 2008

Faceball ShowdownFree is Good FairThis way to free wayCoffee cup artEco-raffles!Gently used sporting gear

View Yahoo! on Flickr

Recent Readers: Provided by MyBlogLog

About Yodel Anecdotal

A look inside the big purple house of Yahoo!, where we'll provide insights into our company, our people, our culture, and the things we think about in the shower. Learn more.

Write to Us

Have a great story to tell about how you've used Yahoo!? Or have a story you'd like us to tell? Drop us a line.

Comment Policy

Give us your $.02. We encourage your comments, quibbles, questions, and suggestions. But please mind your manners. You know the drill... stay on topic, be respectful, and avoid spam, profanity, or anything that violates our Terms of Service.
Learn more about our comment policy.

Shameless Self-Promotion

The Latest News From Yahoo!
Company Info
Become a Yahoo
Yahoo! For Good
All Yahoo! Services