Spring 2013 - Oglethorpe University

engaged living
engaged living
welcoming the World
to Oglethorpe
When international students come to Oglethorpe, they are greeted at the airport by an OU staff
member. They receive a welcome package containing a pillow, blanket, sheets, toiletries, snacks and
water—items they will need on their first night in the dorm. Oglethorpe ensures that international
students have an auspicious beginning to their university experience.
Oglethorpe has a long tradition of welcoming international students, going back to 1946, when
Norwegian World War II veterans came to the university to study. OU now has 61 international
students, including 10 who recently arrived from Honduras. “Our name has spread, and our visibility
is on the rise,” says Philip Peroune, associate director of admissions in charge of international
student recruitment.
This increased visibility and expanded international student population is the result of a strategic
emphasis on recruiting outside our borders. The week he was interviewed for this article, Philip left
for a 13-day trip to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Dubai, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. Oglethorpe now
enrolls students from Saudi Arabia, Canada, Germany, Vietnam, Brazil, Jordan, the United Kingdom,
Colombia, Trinidad, Tobago, Costa Rica, Russia, Cameroon and Honduras.
“There are people here from so many different places,” said Luise Hessing ’16 from Hildesheim,
Germany, “and they all bring a different perspective to class.” Luise, who plans to major in anthropology
and is studying Japanese, says that Oglethorpe does “a really good job of getting students out and
helping them meet each other and find friends.”
Oglethorpe has many resources to meet the needs of international students. Faculty teach a section of
the freshman writing class geared toward international students. The Academic Success Center assists
with cultural transition issues and helps students follow their visa agreement regulations. And, the
Counseling Center helps the students to handle the adjustment to a new environment.
Francesca Garcia ’16, a native of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, enjoys the fact that Oglethorpe combines the
benefits of a small university with the advantages of a big city. “Oglethorpe has opened so many doors
for me and has given me a perspective on life in the United States.”
Global LEAD Expands Students’ Study Abroad Options
Last fall, Oglethorpe University was named
the academic partner institution of Global
LEAD, a nonprofit that provides students
with unique study abroad opportunities in
Ecuador, Greece, and Cape Town, South
Africa. Complementing OU’s strategic vision,
Global LEAD’s innovative model provides
an international experience based on the
core tenets of “Leadership, Action, Adventure
and Diplomacy” (LEAD). Global LEAD helps
students to combine the benefits of studying
abroad with service and adventure into a
holistic life experience.
“There are people
here from so many
different places and
they all bring a
different perspective
to class.”
Oglethorpe students and students worldwide can
earn college credit through Global LEAD in two
courses on Leadership and Service. Oglethorpe
has developed the program’s academically
rigorous coursework, and accredited each
Global LEAD program, approving academic
faculty, syllabi, course pedagogy and materials.
“Global LEAD’s mission complements
Oglethorpe’s commitment to providing students
with hands-on learning opportunities and
experience to expand upon classroom learning,”
said President Schall. “Students who participate
in these programs are better equipped to be
responsible, thoughtful citizens of the world.”
Education First
& Oglethorpe
A Promising Partnership
Based in Zurich, Switzerland, EF is the
world’s largest provider of international
study. Its programs range from educational
tours and two-week language programs,
to 11-month language study immersion
programs, to a pre-Masters program.
Through this partnership, EF international
students live in the Oglethorpe dorms and
take EF English classes in Oglethorpe’s
facilities. This arrangement affords these
students the opportunity to get to know
American students and practice their
English with native speakers. It also has
the benefit of diversifying Oglethorpe’s
community, giving OU students the
opportunity to meet their contemporaries
from other parts of the world. At the time
of this writing, EF students enrolled at
the Oglethorpe office were from Korea,
Taiwan, China, Japan, Mexico, Spain,
Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile, Saudi Arabia
and Kazakhstan.
“We were looking for a safe environment
that is in a world class city and has an
administration interested in a partnership
for international study,” said Jason Daily,
the school director of EF Atlanta. “The
administration has been eager to work with
us from the beginning. And the physical
beauty of the campus was an added plus.”
John Yager ’15, who spent five months in
Germany with EF and is currently working
as activities/excursions coordinator for
the program at Oglethorpe, has a unique
perspective on its benefits for both the EF
students and the OU students. He finds it
rewarding to see the EF students making
progress through the immersion method
of learning a language, and he also enjoys
seeing Oglethorpe students get to know their
peers from different cultures.
The activities planned for EF students are
also open to Oglethorpe students, providing
opportunities for interaction. These activities
range from low-cost events like an exploration
of the Silver Lake neighborhood and weightlifting
lessons, to higher-priced excursions
like a visit to the Georgia Aquarium. A trip
to the Music Midtown festival drew a large
number of EF and Oglethorpe students.
Janet Wood ’13, a resident advisor for the
EF students, says that these students
typically say that they do not want to leave
when it is time for them to return home.
“EF benefits Oglethorpe by spreading the
word about the school to students in other
nations,” she says. “EF students tell their
peers about Oglethorpe when they return
to their home countries.”
OU has recently begun taking the partnership
a step further. “Oglethorpe is in the process
of becoming a ‘partner school’ with EF,” says
Lucy Leusch, vice president for enrollment
and financial aid. Through this expanded
relationship, Oglethorpe will participate in
Oglethorpe University recently launched a
partnership that is bringing many international
students to its campus. After a national search
of many universities, Education First (EF)
selected Oglethorpe and Atlanta for its
southeastern headquarters.
EF’s University Foundation Year, a program
for high school graduates who want to
study at a two or four-year school in North
America. This program offers TOEFL
(Test of English as a Foreign Language)
preparation; application assistance to
three universities, one of which must be a
partner school; and academic and college
prep-related classes (research writing,
presentations, grammar, etc.). Oglethorpe
will be one of only 60 EF partner schools in
the United States and Canada.
As a partner school, Oglethorpe can take
advantage of EF’s offices around the
world. For example, when OU staff are
on recruiting trips, they can arrange
to speak to EF staff, or when possible,
students and parents. EF staff members
arrange college fairs in their schools and
provide opportunities for partners to make
individual presentations.
“This partnership with EF will make
Oglethorpe an even more diverse,
international community,” says Leusch.
(left) EF offices reside in the renovated
basement of Robinson Hall; (right) EF students
Debora Pascual and Manuel Gutierrez, both
from Venezuela, and Sam Soria and Cesar
Gama, from Mexico, gather in a residence
hall kitchen for a cooking lesson.
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