University officials are hoping to see an increase in international student enrollment from one country in particular.

Larry Dietz, vice chancellor for Student Affairs, and John Jackson, a visiting professor at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, returned Thursday from a recruiting trip to Iraq as part of a new educational initiative.

Dietz said SIUC was invited to take part in the Iraq Education Initiative, which aims to provide full scholarships for up to 10,000 Iraqi high school graduates to study abroad for five years.

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Dietz said SIUC was one of 20 universities worldwide invited to participate.

The executive director of the initiative, Zuhair A.G. Humadi, is an SIUC graduate and a personal friend, Jackson said. Humadi is also a senior adviser to Iraq’s vice president.

‘The entire program was designed, conceived by and being run by an SIU graduate,’ Jackson said. ‘He’s a former student of mine who has been a friend of mine for many, many years.’

Dietz said the program carries the potential to educate tens of thousands of Iraqi students in western universities. The initial goal, he said, is to have 500 Iraqi students enter various universities in the United States this fall. SIUC received 76 inquiries, Dietz said, and the task now is getting back to the students who expressed interest.

Dietz said the university needs to address immigration and admission issues before welcoming those students who were interested in coming to SIUC.

Carla Coppi, interim director of International Programs and Services, said SIUC has roughly 1,500 international students, two of whom are from Iraq. Though there are only 13 full-time staff members, Coppi said the office is eager to attract more international students.

‘Of course we want to increase international enrollment, but (this) is from a part of the world where we have not seen many international students over the last 20 years,’ Coppi said.

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Jackson said one interesting experience in Iraq was time spent with the first international graduate of SIUC, Saad Jabr, a native of Iraq who graduated in 1951. Jackson said Jabr and Humadi are close friends who have worked hard to retain a strong connection with the university.’

‘We went out to his house one evening and met with him and visited with him and had a great time talking about his days at SIU,’ Jackson said.

Dietz said Iraqi students spoke about hope for the future instead of the oppression of the past. The students talked about how they wanted to better themselves and their positions in life, as well as give back and help rebuild Iraq, he said.

‘It was all about hope, opportunity and the future,’ Dietz said.

Madeleine Leroux can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 259 or [email protected].