Olcese Retires After 35 years in International Education

In the days following the 2016 presidential election and in the wake of Donald Trump’s intense anti-immigration rhetoric, international students at KU feared walking on campus and going to class. 

To address those concerns, staff at International Student Services recruited students to walk international students to class. Within a week, more than 700 people had volunteered and 10 days later several hundred marched along Jayhawk Boulevard in solidarity with international students. 

The KU community’s show of support for international students during that time was among the more memorable moments in Charles “Chuck” Olcese’s 35-year career in international education.

“It was an incredible experience,” Olcese said. “All these people came together and said to our international students ‘we want you to know you have friends here. You may read in the news some things that make you scared, but all these people are willing to say they are glad you are here.’” 
Joe Potts, assistant vice provost of international innovation and initiatives and a long-time colleague, remembers watching Olcese on that day stand on a bench in front of Wescoe Hall to clearly and calmly address a crowd of worried international students and their supporters.
“He was very much involved in a way you might not notice or be aware of because he was very happy and effective in working behind the scenes. But when needed, he could step up and lead in such a wonderful, public way,” Potts said. “I think that day was a great example of that ability.”

Olcese retired in May after nearly eight years as director of International Student Services (which was reconfigured to International Support Services in 2019) and almost two decades of advocating for international education in Kansas. Throughout his career, Olcese has been a local, regional and national leader in international education, said Charles Bankart, associate vice provost for International Affairs. 

“I know of no one in the world who is kinder, more measured, more thoughtful and more invested in international education,” Bankart said.
Olcese started his career as a campus minister at Portland State University while his wife Camille was finishing her master’s degree in English as a Second Language.

Both were searching for an overseas experience when the opportunity arose in 1985 to move to Chongqing, China and teach English at the Sichuan Institute of Foreign Languages. 

In southwest China along the Yangtze River, Chongqing was just beginning to open up to Westerners, so even the act of Olcese buying a hat from a street vendor drew a crowd of onlookers. In a more remote part of China than their American colleagues, the Olceses also had the freedom to explore their new home, taking hiking trips in the hills above campus. 

“It was quite an adventure and so unique and formational for me. It was my first time overseas,” Olcese said. 

When the couple returned from China and Olcese went back to work as a campus minister at Portland State University, he noticed that he gravitated toward international students. 

“They had such interesting stories with the decision they made to come here, and what was at stake for them in being educated in the United States,” Olcese said. “I was just fascinated by that and decided this is what I want to do with the rest of my life.”

Before arriving at KU in fall 2012, Olcese had spent more than a decade as director of international affairs at Pittsburg State University. In that position, he oversaw and expanded international services, intensive English and study abroad programs, as well as traveled abroad with the university president to foster international partnerships.
Over those years, Olcese also spent time advocating for international education through local and regional involvement in NAFSA: Association for International Educators.

His work was recognized in 2011 with the Bruce Tracey Award, NAFSA Region II’s highest honor for professional and personal contributions to the field of international education. 

Over the past three decades, Olcese has witnessed the development and growth of the field of international education. In recent years, Olcese faced the challenge of increasing competitiveness to attract international students, coupled with changing immigration policies.

“Chuck has experienced constant change, six different U.S. presidential administrations, economic recessions, the advent of global terrorism, countless student successes, many student tragedies and a global pandemic,” Bankart said. “Through it all, he has been strong and always ready with a smile and encouraging word.”
Potts, who preceded Olcese as the director of ISS, said one of his most significant accomplishments at KU was growing the programming provided to international students which expands upon the immigration services that are at the center of the unit’s work.

“He took the unit to the next level with some big, strategic steps forward,” Potts said. 

For Olcese the most rewarding moments at KU came when he could provide support to international students who were in extremely difficult situations. He pointed to his work with a group of Kurdish Iraqi students whose studies at KU were funded through the Kurdish regional government. Routed through the Iraq central government, payment was precarious at times. So, Olcese worked with KU’s student and business accounts to allow for flexibility, ensuring the students could continue to study.

“It was extremely satisfying to help these students earn degrees that they probably never dreamed they would be able to get, and then watch them take a place of leadership in their cultural group,” Olcese said. “We were contributing to a minority group trying to establish their identity.” 

Olcese’s work with the international community has not come to an end in retirement. Several years ago, he helped found the Lawrence Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministry, which works to provide assistance, advocacy and awareness, and he will continue to work with the organization. It’s another example of Olcese’s commitment to the international community in Lawrence.

“He has, by all measures, made a significant mark on this world and leaves his profession and us all in a better place for his efforts,” Bankart said.