State's Harrison says Fulbrighters Will Contribute to Iraq's Future

By Phyllis McIntosh
Washington File Special Correspondent

Washington --- Fulbright scholars from Iraq are about to return to the United States after a 14-year hiatus.

"These people have been waiting so long to have their minds re-energized and to reconnect on so many levels," said Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Patricia S. Harrison in an interview with the Washington File.

"When the young men and women who come here to study return to Iraq they will be in a position to be builders of society."

Ambassador L. Paul Bremer announced in Baghdad January 23 selection of the first group of Iraqi Fulbright scholars to travel to the United States in 14 years.

The 23 students and two scholars -- 19 men and six women -- will arrive in February to spend up to two years studying or conducting research at American universities in such fields as public health, public administration, business, journalism, law, and English teaching.

After a period of pre-academic training to sharpen their English and computer skills and introduce them to the protocol of studying in the United States, the students will enter Master's degree programs at leading universities.

The Fulbright program, sponsored by the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), is America's flagship international educational exchange program. Since 1946, it has organized exchanges of more than a quarter million people between the United States and other countries. The U.S. government suspended the Fulbright program in Iraq in 1990 when Saddam Hussein denied Iraqi scholars the freedom to travel abroad.

The quality of Iraq's higher education also suffered greatly as Saddam refused to equip universities adequately and forced them to continue using textbooks dating from the mid-1980s.

Resumption of the Fulbright program is part of Ambassador Bremer's plan to demonstrate U.S. commitment to Iraq. Late last year, Harrison and other State Department officials traveled to Iraq for meetings with educational and cultural leaders to lay the foundation for reopening the program. Those discussions also led to the visit of the Iraq National Symphony to the United States in December and musical and professional assistance for the orchestra.

"When we met with rectors of various universities in Iraq, it was clear to us that education was very key to the Iraqis' sense of who they are," said Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Academic Programs Thomas Farrell. "Pre-Saddam Iraq was the leading center of higher education in the region and one of the leaders in the world. It was clear that they were ready to participate once again in the free flow of information, they wanted access to research, and they just wanted to be reconnected with the rest of the world."

The recruitment of young men and women from all regions of Iraq to apply for Fulbright scholarships in a fair and merit-based process "is a very good testament to the level of investment that the United States and the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) has made to the renewal of Iraq," Harrison said.

Through 18 CPA centers located in every province, program organizers worked with municipal and university leaders and officials to disseminate materials about the Fulbright program and organize English language testing in six cities. The outreach produced thousands of inquiries and hundreds of applications. Nearly 400 applications that met the high Fulbright standards were reviewed by two independent, bi-national committees in Baghdad. Those committees nominated the finalists who were selected by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Even though only 25 participants were chosen for the first round, the recruitment and application process will have a far-reaching impact on education in Iraq, Harrison noted.

"Even the students who didn't qualify found out that things have changed. Whether or not they ever get a Fulbright scholarship, they will now be preparing at a level of academic responsibility that had not been demanded of them before. Just to see a competition that was based on merit, when you've been in an environment that was anything but, is a huge factor," she said.

"Any number of people who went through this process are now in a better position to seek their own admission to universities in the United States and around the world," Farrell added.

Planning already is under way for recruitment of the next group of Iraqi Fulbrighters, scheduled to arrive in early 2005. Later this year, ECA expects to bring young Iraqi teachers in training to the United States to teach Arabic in American colleges, universities, and high schools under the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants Program. ECA also hopes to enroll several Iraqi undergraduate students in six-week Fulbright American Studies Institutes, where they can gain an understanding of U.S. society.

"We think of them as agents of change who can have a more immediate effect, because they would be here for six weeks and then go back and continue their undergraduate education," Farrell explained.

"There is nothing that represents a long-term commitment to Iraq better than the Fulbright program," Harrison concluded. After nearly six decades, Fulbright "still works and is still recognized worldwide. There is a long track record of Fulbrighters succeeding wherever they are at any level."

"Fulbright is an academic program, but it's also a life-changing program," she added. The Iraqi students "will go back with a different view of where they fit into their own country and with the ability to help shape what is going on. They'll be the future leaders in the rebuilding of Iraq."

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)