The University’s Center for Politics is currently hosting a group of high school students from Belarus as part of the center’s Global Perspectives on Democracy program.
The exchange, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, brings together 30 Belarusian students with 30 of their American counterparts to learn about citizenship and democracy.
International programming began in Aug. 2006 with an international youth democracy summit. The GPD program has been hosting international students and professionals since 2009.
Students were recruited to come to the United States by the American embassy in Minsk, together with World Learning, a 501(c)(3) educational organization which partners with the Center for Politics.
In keeping with criteria set by the State Department, the students were drawn from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds.
Director of Global Initiatives Daman Irby said the goal of the program is to promote civic engagement in young, diverse students.
“The goal of the State Department is to create a pool of young Belarusians who have a positive experience with the United States and who are also equipped to impact their country and help move the nation in the right direction in being engaged and communicating with their government, being active in their communities and in turn to improve stability in their country,” Irby said.
Organizers looked primarily for an interest in community involvement to choose Belarusian students for the program, Irby said.
“Speaking English is a requirement, being active civically, being interested in improving your community,” Irby said. “These are all characteristics that World Learning, the Center for Politics, the Department of State are looking for in program participants.”
The students will spend almost two weeks at the University before splitting up to visit a number of American cities, regrouping in Washington, D.C.
According to Ken Stroupe, the Center’s Chief of Staff and Director of the National Youth Leadership Initiative, the GPD program has expanded the international horizons of the University’s efforts at expanding civic engagement.
The Belarusian students are the third of five groups which will be visiting the University this year — and the first ever from a European country.
“The general goal with all of these types of programs is to try to build cultural and educational ties among the United States and the participating countries, wherever they might be,” Stroupe said.
The Center is eager to carry out programs like this which engage youth in the political process throughout the world, Stroupe said.
“We really look at the issue of citizen engagement and how people regardless of their form of government can interact with their government in more effective ways,” Stroupe added.
Irby said he is optimistic that the participating students will have a lasting positive effect on democracy in Belarus.
“This is a group of students who are truly motivated,” Irby said. “You would be amazed that they are high school students. They’re very passionate, they’re very focused, they’re a very bright and outgoing group and they are, I’m sure, going to make great strides for their country in its level of civic engagement and its vision for the future.”
The GDP initiative has already hosted students from Argentina and Chile earlier this year, and will host groups from the Caribbean and the Middle East and North Africa later this summer and fall.
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