The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, will be visiting the Dayton area soon. This will be a big deal for Dayton as it becomes an entire city event. With it being so close to the Wright-Patterson Air Force base, what does it mean for students?
NATO and Dayton
From May 22-26, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, will visit the Dayton area for their Spring Summit. There will be over 600 officials from around the globe in Dayton for the assembly. Dayton was chosen for the 30th anniversary of the Bosnia Peace Treaty, which was originally signed at Wright-Patterson Air Force base.
NATO is an international organization made up of 32 militaries whose goal is to preserve peace. They work together by exchanging information to avoid causing another world war. Their headquarters is currently in Belgium. The parliamentary assembly was created in 1955 with the idea of providing a specialized forum for members of parliament to discuss alliance security.
Similar topics will be discussed at this year's Spring Summit.
With the proximity to the base, this event has the potential to affect the student body in a few ways.
Traffic concerns
One problem the student population expressed worry about with this event is traffic. Computer science major Lipi Akter expressed traffic concerns during previous coverage of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
“I assume that they are mainly going to base [since] it is a military thing. I’m just worried that it will disrupt the flow of traffic here. I mean, that time is already really stressful, and I don’t think it’ll be any better with all those people here too,” Akter said.
During a follow-up with the Guardian, Akter voiced more concerns over local traffic.
“The actual event is 3 days long, but the people that will be coming are international so it's unlikely that they will only stay those three days,” Akter stated. “That's still going to affect students who go to summer classes. That's also going to affect local traffic. It's just very concerning that there will be a group of people who need to get around that can't.”
The same concern was shared by Fairborn resident Marietta Cedar. Cedar’s concern stems from it being a holiday weekend.
“That's Memorial Day weekend, and like a lot of families, mine is usually all over the place celebrating. We go to a Memorial Day ceremony, have cookouts and hang out at parks around town—it’s kind of a big deal for us. With this event happening, it’s going to be hard to do all that. I’m honestly worried some of it might get canceled,” Cedar said.
As of now, Fairborn has not announced whether this event will be canceled.
Cedar was also concerned with the work commute, sharing Akter's concerns about local traffic.
“Traffic will be insane too,” Cedar said.
It is unclear how things like traffic and normal events will go forward during the duration of the NATO Parliamentary assembly. As of this article being published, it looks to be that most of the NATO festivities will take place in the city of Dayton proper.
Wright State University and NATO
WSU is also getting involved with the NATO celebrations.
One of the ways that WSU is getting involved in the festivities is through the “Concert of Peace” that is being put on between the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra around the same time.
During a press conference with Congressman Mike Turner, who is heading the U.S. delegation of the NATO parliamentary assembly, revealed the “Concert of Peace” with the Bosnian Philharmonic Orchestra. The inclusion of the concert commemorates the 30th anniversary of the treaty and international diplomacy.
During the duration of their visit, WSU will be hosting the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra. They will be rehearsing and living on campus during their stay.
WSU president Sue Edwards expressed excitement for the orchestra staying on campus.
“We really look forward to [WSU] taking part and supporting the Sarajevo Orchestra so that they truly get the most out of their visit to Dayton, and hopefully, they will make their return presence at a later date,” President Edwards said. “We can't wait to see your performances, and we can't wait to welcome all of the members of NATO who will be joining us here!"
The performance will be held at the Schuster Center in downtown Dayton on May 29. This will be the only U.S. performance on the Sarajevo tour.
Additionally, Wright State Alumni and current marketing employee Josh Trippier was selected to be a finalist in the NATO logo-making competition The winner of the competition would have their logo put on everything for the event; while Trippier did not win the competition, he submitted three great designs.
As the event gets closer, there will be more coming out as far as partnerships go. One thing is for sure: with NATO in town, things are going to get a little busy.
