Every university has its chancellor or president and then its various deans as well, but how many have a prime minister?

Appalachian State, this semester, is one of the few schools that does.

Since August, ASU has been the temporary home of Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, prime minister of Poland from 1996-1997.

In December, Cimoszewicz returns to Poland to  assume his seat in the Polish Congress (Sejm), a position he has been on extended leave from since he got to Appalachian.

So just what is one of Eastern Europe’s most respected leaders, a person who has dined with hundreds of monarchs, presidents, prime ministers, Nobel Prize winners and other important people by his estimate and helped engineer his country’s acceptance into NATO doing hanging around Boone like a sixth-year senior?

“After my former job in which I had to work 15, 16 or 17 hours a day... this is like a holiday to me,” said Cimoszewicz.

Cimoszewicz first heard about ASU while he was prime minister.  When Chancellor Francis Borkowski visited Poland last year, he met with the 
prime minister and extended him an invitation to come and stay at Appalachian. 

Cimoszewicz said that, at first, he did not really think about the offer. But then after he stepped down as prime minister, he began to consider the offer, and last summer, he and his wife decided to take Borkowski up on it.

Now, as the school’s International Distinguished Lecturer, Cimoszewicz gives speeches and lectures on a variety of topics relating to Eastern Europe and international politics. 

He has given large speeches in Farthing Auditorium and small talks with some of the classes in the Department of Political Science, where his small and quiet office is located.

A lot of his time is spent enjoying that quiet and the peace that comes with living in a small Southern town like Boone.

Part of the reason he enjoys country-life so much is that Cimoszewicz was born and raised in Warsaw, the capital of Poland and a city of more than two million.  He went to college at Warsaw University and got his law degree, and then went on to Columbia University in New York City as Fulbright scholar in 1980-1981 to get his doctorate.  After spending more than two decades in those two huge metropolises, Cimoszewicz was ready for life outside the city.

“I was born in Warsaw, but even today... I prefer to be on my farm.”

Cimoszewicz’s farm lies in Poland’s northeast region, not far from the city of Bialystok, near the Belarussian border.  The city is the capital of one of Poland’s 16 newly created provinces.

In the first elections, held in October, to fill those provincial legislative seats, Cimoszewicz won the election in his district while running his entire campaign from right here in Boone.

“I just gave some interviews through the internet to local newspapers, and my leaflet was published and delivered to the people,” said Cimoszewicz.

“I am very fortunate, because in my constituency, I have very strong support among the people.  They know me very well. They know what I think ... and what I have done for that region.”

As for how he gets along with American students here at ASU, who are part of a school system much different than the one Polish students attend, Cimoszewicz commented, “People are the same; the same age, the same clothes, the same habits, the same behavior.  I don’t see any real differences.” 

Although, he does note that it was not always that way in Poland.  Under communist rule, Cimoszewicz said that students didn’t have to work hard in school because they knew the government would take care of them.

“Everybody knew that after completing their studies (they) would get a job... Today it is different.  They treat studies differently.  They demand to get more knowledge and more information,” he said.

Cimoszewicz also has an interesting take on the scandal involving President Clinton, whom he met with, and had a very interesting conversation with for over three hours in 1996.

“From a political standpoint, he behaved very stupidly,” said Cimoszewicz, but added that “the political games and motives have gone too far,” regarding the impeachment proceedings.

“(The scandal) hurts the image of the United States... I don’t think it would be taken seriously in any other country,” he said.

Cimoszewicz thinks that an impeachment would be much more prudent in a country such as Russia, where he says polls show that 70 percent of the citizens want President Boris Yeltsin to give up his power.

“Their president really broke the constitution to solve his conflicts with parliament, and he is responsible for the war in Chechnya where thousands of Chechnyans and Russians were killed, and this guy is not impeached.”

As for his time in Boone, which ends this month, Cimoszewicz seems to have relished being here.

“The reception for me was great and they (the university) take care of all my problems,” he said.

Cimoszewicz added that he enjoys the often unpredictable Boone weather.

“This place is very nice.  It reminds me of that part of Poland in the Sudetan Mountains which look very much like the Appalachians.  Because of the local climate and the lower temperatures, I do much better here than in many other parts of the United States.”

And while many people at ASU do not miss the cold weather this winter, this school will miss the valuable resource of having a prime minister on staff.