Can the process of *Change* be sparked by intercultural activism incentivized with a free education?

This is a brainstorm. The West coast of Puerto Rico needs to put a strangle hold on more tourism dollars. Below I’ll tell you how I think it’s possible in a short time period. First, allow me to assert the following:

The beaches are Puerto Rico’s only real natural resource, and tourism is the only industry that should have a stable future if managed correctly.

Now, for those who share feelings similar to my own, I propose that the West coast is the best escape route if you want to get as far away as possible from the urban jungle of San Juan (“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot“).

Yet, the reason a big boom in tourism is NOT going to happen is because the bad image Puerto Rico has earned matches the bad reality here. In fact, we really could re-name the 100 Highway: Roadkill Express. How do the tourists like them apples, i.e. those rotting animal carcasses all over the place, that are never picked up?

Answer: They don’t… and they go back home and tell their friends never to visit Puerto Rico and they never return themselves… But roadkill treated like roadside art is just one of the problems here.

So let’s leave the East Coast to fend for themselves for now. This plan is based on the more rural West setting an example and acting as a model for the rest of the island in a leadership role.

Stay with me here. Give me a tiny bit of flexibility to bring this all together. I promise I will. For now, I’m going to jump around just for a moment to get started. That will help me to set the stage for this new idea for the $2 MILLION Intercultural “Academic Activist” Endowment.

Did you see the movie “Braveheart” by Mel Gibson back in the 90s? Great movie. Let me draw your attention to the concept of “prima nocta” as described in the film. Although historically incorrect for the period the movie was set, the script had the English King invoke the order in an attempt to deal with the unruly Scottish. In essence, he intended to give English lords the rights to sleep with (and hopefully impregnate) the females about to get married. He stated:

If we can’t get them out, we’ll breed them out…

Do I have your attention? Don’t be alarmed. I’m not endorsing that we follow the English King’s recommendation. I was rooting for the Scottish in that film. To clarify: I am also NOT recommending any of those big bad scary terms like genocide, eugenics, or gentrification. In fact, I’m not even hinting at them here. But I am attacking something:

What I am suggesting is that the stuff we need to “breed out” of Puerto Rico is inefficient practices and/or major issues that have been allowed to go on too long. What if we just simply CANNOT think outside of that damn box everyone talks about? Did you ever hear the song “The Outside” by Staind? Focus on these particular lyrics as a metaphor:

But I’m on the outside
I’m looking in
I can see through you
See your true colors

Outsiders can have a fresh perspective because they are outsiders. They can help light a fire under our butts to get moving in a competitive spirit. Now we’re getting to my suggestion:

Let’s “loot” young American talent/systems. Let’s take the best of what they have and incorporate it here to solve our problems. In fact, let’s have them do most of the work for next to nothing. If you can’t think outside the box, then find people that are already outside of your box!

Allow me to introduce the brainstorm for the $2 MILLION Intercultural “Academic Activist” Endowment for “Puerta Del Sol”:

In cooperation between the municipalities of the West Coast of Puerto Rico, an endowment or scholarship fund for approximately 100 non-native students will be assembled, with a commitment of a 4-year test project, with total costs of $8 MILLION.

The scholarship will be open to non-native students, focusing on the US, who have above average academic achievement, have strong social and leadership attributes, have a background in volunteerism, an interest in culture, and a propensity for both environmental and general activism.

The top 100 will be selected among all applicants to attend the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, in multiple different undergraduate degree programs. There should be a somewhat equal distribution between business, science, engineering, social science / humanities, and liberal arts, etc, to ensure diversity.

Those selected will be given a 4-year, renewable, full scholarship to attend the university.

There are stipulations:

• They will attend 3 x 1-hour classes a week which focus on Spanish language learning and introduction to Puerto Rican culture provided by appointed members of the university staff.
• They will be expected to identify issues that exist on the West Coast of Puerto Rico, and create activist groups with the goal of creating/advocating real change.
• The will be expected to maintain a B average or higher with no failed courses to stay enrolled with the scholarship program.
• They are free to assemble in groups that contain no more than 4 total scholarship recipients in the program. Groups may be as large as necessary, but must comprise the member base of 5+ from other students or members of the Puerto Rican community.
• Their mandate will be to use their “outsider” experience to work with the Puerto Rican community to find solutions to problems that exist here.

So these students get an opportunity at a full scholarship in an exciting new location, in exchange for bringing their fresh perspective to the island and working on some of the unresolved issues that exist here. Maybe they’ll choose to find ways to clean up the trash, promote recycling, help solve the animal crisis, introduce new business practices, reduce crime, accelerate adoption of technology (including the Web), or do things that are truly amazing, etc.

In so doing, you can be sure they’ll get the attention of the native Puerto Ricans, and they’ll raise the challenge to students of Puerto Rican ancestry either join them or work to out perform them. Whether a joint effort or a competitive one, the result should be a positive step in the right direction.

A program of this nature when properly handled by an experienced Public Relations professional will also be a very effective way to generate media coverage with a positive focus outside of Puerto Rico, starting at the local level (the home towns of scholarship recipients) right on up to the International level for successful initiatives.

What the the value? These individuals will be selected as catalysts for change, bringing outside ideas to the table and creating adapters so that square pegs just may be able to fit into round holes, or to re-think the idea of pegs and holes altogether! That’s diversified thinking minus the tunnel vision minus the “defeated attitude” that exists here.

You might be quick to argue that the municipalities cannot provide the funding. And I would quickly respond that the cost will end up being far less than $8 MILLION over 4 years in tuition fees and program administration. In fact, I expect a big ROI.

For starters, these students will be injecting a small amount of outside dollars right back into the local economy. We should also assume that many of their parents and relatives will be much more eager to visit them, given the extra benefits of nearby beaches and the warm blue ocean. The media attention that can be harnessed under the direction of a capable PR pro can make $8 MILLION look like petty cash. And finally, if even 1 initiative results in a big positive change we’ve got something. If they awaken a competitive spirit and draw attention in the West Coast to unresolved issues, we’ve got something.

We might even clean up a little roadkill, a little trash, or get a little positive buzz about Puerto Rico into the air waves, onto the Internet, over to the mainland. Maybe just want we need to clean up that image and let tourists not only visit, but leave satisfied and filled with positive recommendations!

So this is like a ruthless prima nocta strategy for “issues”, not people. Not a single DNA strand will be harmed in the process. It’s the brains that are going to change in the process, getting all fired up and ready for action. Let’s breed out the bad stuff, by giving the outsiders the first crack at finding solutions. If you watched Braveheart, you know that prima nocta really got those idle peasant Scots to come alive… eventually re-taking their own country and parts of England itself. Every drive of the piston starts with a spark.

And what better hands to hold the baton than the very generation that is going to have to clean up the mess that we’ve made for them and their kids?

This is a brainstorm. This is an experiment. And it just might work. For discussion.

The Insider

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