By Austin Schmitt

After orders from the new presidential administration for U.S. troop withdrawal, the end of the war in Iraq could be drawing nearer. For the Iraqi administration, rebuilding Iraq’s educational infrastructure has become a priority and it may start at UK.

In the fall, UK is set to welcome Iraqi students through a newly approved Iraqi Education Initiative.

UK is one of 20 universities participating in the initiative. The Academy for Educational Development in Washington, D.C., gathered interested universities in this program and UK was one willing to accept students, said John Yopp, associate provost for educational partnerships and international affairs at UK.UK is a good fit for what the Iraqi government wants from their students, Yopp said.

“Where (Iraq is) really interested in building infrastructure is engineering, business administration, law and allied health fields,” Yopp said. “Looking at where these fields are, UK is strong in all those fields.”

Patricia Bond, assistant dean of UK Graduate School, is representing UK and working closely with the other 20 universities and Iraq to make the program possible. Bond is currently in China and was unavailable to comment in detail but sent a statement in an e-mail to the Kernel.

“The Iraqi Education Initiative is an exciting opportunity for the University of Kentucky to contribute to the redevelopment of Iraq,” Bond said in the e-mail. “The students there are looking forward to the future with a great sense of hope and optimism.”

The students will have all their tuition and living expenses paid for from the profits of oil sold in Iraq, Yopp said. Students entering the program will enroll in one semester of English as a Second Language program or they will go straight into their degree program, Yopp said.

“(Some students) will go straight into the other programs, because they’re that good,” Yopp said. “We forget sometimes that Iraq has one of the oldest educational systems in all of the world.”

Yopp said he isn’t sure how many students take part in the program, but 40 is set as a maximum enrollment.

“If we got 40, I would be tickled to death,” Yopp said. “The potential for the whole program will be many more if the oil money keeps coming.”

Looking at the overall picture, students at UK will benefit just as much as the Iraqi students, Yopp said.

“In larger context, our students benefit,” Yopp said. “Our students will be exposed to perspectives and cultures of other countries. The Iraqis will bring a lot to our campus especially to our undergraduates. It will be a great educational experience for our students to learn from this.”