FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2003

CONTACT: City of Belmont - Dan Rich
650-595-7409
drich@ci.belmont.ca.us
"DAY OF" CONTACT:
Notre Dame de Namur University: Mark Lewis
650-524-9811
mlewis@ndnu.edu

After several years of planning, Namur, Belgium is sending a Sister City delegation to Belmont. The delegation, composed of city officials, representatives of business, school and the press, will be in Belmont all day Tuesday, April 29.

Members of the media are invited to the formal Sister City program at which time the "key to the City" will be presented. The program will be at 5:00 PM in Ralston Hall Mansion on the campus of Notre Dame de Namur University. After the program, members of the delegation, as well as City officials and Sister City Committee members will be available for interviews. A list of the twenty one-member delegation, which includes three Deputy Mayors and four members of the working press, is attached.

The City Council selected Namur as Belmont’s Sister City in 2001 because it is the location of the motherhouse for the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (SND), the founders of Notre Dame de Namur University (formerly College of Notre Dame), which has been in Belmont since 1923. The Council formally adopted the Belmont/Namur Sister City Resolution shortly after receiving a touching letter of support from the Mayor of Namur to the Mayor and citizens of Belmont immediately following the September 11 tragedy. "We are pleased to be able to welcome our friends and colleagues from Namur to Belmont," said Mayor Paul Wright. "We trust this will be the beginning of a long and meaningful partnership."

Dr. John Oblak, President of NDNU, noted that the University wishes to strengthen the existing common bond. "We look forward to actively participating in the Sister City Program. One of the ways we’re celebrating this partnership is to offer a one-year tuition and fee waiver scholarship to a student from Namur."

Namur is an ancient city in south central Belgium where the Sambre and Meuse rivers meet. Considered an important strategic site, through the centuries Namur survived numerous sieges, from one led by Louis XIV of France, the "Sun King," on up through the Napoleonic Wars and the two World Wars. Today, the City of Namur has just over 100,000 residents and is the heart of the Province of Namur (435,000 population) and the seat of government for the region of Wallonia (3.5 million).

A Sister City Committee has been working hard to make certain the April 29 delegation visit is a success. The day will include a breakfast with City officials, a city tour, a luncheon and campus tour hosted by NDNU, and a reception in Ralston Hall Mansion. The Belmont Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce have made contributions to support the day’s events.

The NDNU scholarship will be one of two programs currently being developed under the umbrella of the sister city relationship. The other program in the startup phase is an "e" pals program coordinated by the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District. This program is designed to allow students from Namur to communicate electronically with their counterparts in Belmont. While in Belmont, the delegation will meet with the Sister City Committee to discuss other ideas for the two communities’ relationship. It is hoped that the relationship will yield many more programs and activities that will benefit both cities.

Discussing the upcoming visit, Sr. Roseanne Murphy, SND, stated, "When people ask about ‘Namur,’ it gives us the opportunity to tell them about the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who founded the college in 1851. The name of the university and the Sister City of Belmont have become a lifetime tribute to those sisters."

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Namur, Belgium Delegation

Visit to Belmont, CA - Tuesday April 29, 2003

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