Federal Ambassador visits journalism class

By Hannah Wiley, Managing Editor and Peter Neville, Asst. Sports Editor

Dr. Delaware Arif’s journalism classes had the chance to hear from Ambassador Earl R. Miller in class on Feb. 2. Ambassador Miller took an unconventional route after studying journalism in college and showed students that there are post-graduate options other than the news field.

Ambassador Miller attended the University of Michigan and after graduation, joined the Marine Corps for three years of active service. He then spent the next 35 years working in foreign service for the U.S. Department of State. Over those years, he lived and worked in 12 countries. He began as a special agent with the Diplomatic Security Service and was a career member of the Senior Foreign Service for 24 years. He then spent eight years as a U.S. Ambassador to Botswana and Bangladesh. After leaving foreign service, he joined the Peace Corps as a Country Director in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. “One of the reasons I decided to leave the Foreign Service was I felt it was time for me to move on because my personal feelings, my personal moral compass, wasn’t necessarily in line with what I was seeing in U.S. foreign policy,” said Ambassador Miller. 

As an ambassador, he wanted his staff to feel as if they could come and talk to him, stressing the importance of a strong relationship, “I think we lead best when we lead quietly and modestly. I think we lead best when we’re open and honest about our faults and our feelings as well as our successes and now we’re continuing to try and overcome those now.” 

He emphasized the importance for students to not only go abroad, but simply leave their hometowns. “For me, probably the most important move I made in my life, it wasn’t when I was in the armed forces, or when I was a diplomat in a place like Bangladesh or Iraq – it was from Flint, Mich. to Ann Arbor, Mich. to go to university,” said Ambassador Miller. He continued, “Because I'd never really left my hometown and Ann Arbor could not be more different than my wounded hometown of Flint, and that's one thing I would encourage you to try and do.”

Having moved around for most of his career, he gained a worldview and experience that most people don’t have the opportunity to accomplish. More than anything, he was proud that he was an atypical leader and enjoyed spending time meeting with young people and visiting local schools rather than getting caught up in the monotony of the job. 

“Your legacy is how you treated other people and how you made them feel,” said Ambassador Miller. The same way that he was atypical in the way he handled his job, the way he wanted to be remembered as a public servant, was just as unique.