Hundreds of De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) students have captured the memory of a lifetime in a huge group photograph in front of New York’s legendary Statue of Liberty.
The group – joined by Vice-Chancellor Professor Dominic Shellard and Chancellor Baroness Doreen Lawrence – took the ferry across an ice-strewn Hudson River to reach Liberty Island, home of the legendary monument, a world-famous symbol of freedom.
They were then able to walk around the base of the huge icon and took part of a big group shot, a memento they can keep for the rest of their lives as a reminder of this epic #DMUglobal trip to New York.
Dance student Shannon Thurgood said she had been excited about taking the trip to Liberty Island.
She said: “We have just got off the ferry and wandered around and we’ve just been looking at the view which is absolutely incredible.
“Can’t really believe I’m actually here.”
Her classmate Emma McBain said: “This whole trip we have been able to do this that we simply would not have had the opportunity to do otherwise, joining in dance performances and visiting these amazingly famous places.
“It’s just been brilliant, all of it.”
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After taking the views in, the students reboarded the ferry and headed back to Battery Park, stopping on the way to visit Ellis Island, the former gateway to over 12 million immigrants to the US.
The island was made part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965 and has hosted a museum of immigration since 1990.
Professor Shellard, who had given a live Facebook broadcast on the ferry out to Liberty Island, said the sub-zero cold had failed to cool the students’ enthusiasm.
He said: “This is what a #DMUglobal trip is all about. It’s absolutely freezing but it hasn’t dampened everybody’s spirits. This is a magnificent experience which will stay with students for the rest of their lives.”
During the day – which was planned around offering students cultural activities – other students went ice skating in Central Park, and still others went up to the Top of the Rock at the Rockefeller Centre.
Posted on Sunday 7 January 2018