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In oasis of calm in Kurdistan, Iraq builds
university
3.9.2007
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September 3, 2007
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- In
this corner of Iraq untouched by war, people are
able to focus on the more normal attributes of
building a nation, like starting a university.
In a ceremony here last week, Iraq's leaders
gathered for the groundbreaking for the American
University of Iraq, a private institution that they
hope will one day grow to mirror the more well-known
American universities in Beirut and Cairo. The first
classes, which will be conducted in English, are set
to begin in a donated office next month.
In the shorter term, supporters of the new
university will stand as a symbol for the sort of
positive change that is possible, if not in all of
Iraq, then at least in its Kurdish north.
"This shows what Iraq could be like," Barham Salih,
Iraq's deputy prime minister told the gathering
here, which included the American ambassador, Ryan
Crocker, and the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani.
"This is a dream that has to come true."
They got a pretty good down payment on that dream
last week. Following a sumptuous lunch for local
businessmen here, Salih secured promises for $10
million in donations. That, along with the pledges
secured so far - including one for $10.5 million
from the U.S. Congress - brought the total promised
to $40 million. In meetings with Americans and
Iraqis, Salih was pleading for as much as he could
get.
"Your moral support is good, but your financial
support is even better," Salih said to Crocker.
The construction of the university here is another
measure of the growing distance between the
predominantly Kurdish northern territories and the
rest of Iraq. The three majority Kurdish provinces,
which comprise about fifteen percent of Iraq's
population, have enjoyed relative stability since
the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 and are
developing rapidly on their own. While a university
like this might naturally be located in Baghdad, the
violence in Iraq's capital makes such a project
inconceivable.
Pro-American sentiment still runs high among the
Kurds, too. The Kurds bore the brunt of Saddam
Hussein's furies and benefited from more than a
decade of American protection following the first
Gulf War in 1991. That protection allowed the Kurds
to set up the near-independent state they have
today. In much of the rest of Iraq, four years of
war have rendered the United States unpopular among
many Iraqis.
The $40 million raised so far is enough to begin
construction of the campus, located on about 400
acres, or 162 hectares, near the airport. The land
was donated by the Kurdish regional government,
which operates in virtual autonomy from the central
government in Baghdad. The university's backers are
hoping to raise another $90 million to complete the
construction of the first phase, which is planned to
include classrooms, dormitories and a museum.
So far, the university's board of trustees has hired
an American chancellor, Owen Cargol, and a staff of
23. The first undergraduate classes are set to begin
in October and the graduate-level courses in
November. University officials are planning a
curriculum heavily tilted toward business skills,
with undergraduate and graduate degrees in subjects
like information technology and management. Degrees
in the liberal arts, petroleum engineering and other
areas are planned for later.
University officials are not expecting many students
this fall; probably, they said, no more than fifty.
The university is being planned to accommodate about
1,000 students by the time the first phase of the
university is scheduled to be completed, before the
end of 2009.
The American University of Iraq is being modeled
after the successful and influential
English-language institutions in Beirut and Cairo,
which are known for their high academic standards
and competitive admission policies. Those
universities have a big head start: the American
University in Beirut was founded in 1866 by American
missionaries, and the American University in Cairo
was established in 1919.
At the American University in Iraq, entering
students will be expected to be fluent in English
and to have scored in the top twenty percent of
their college entrance exams. Tuition is being set
at $10,000 per academic year, an extraordinary sum
in Iraq, where higher education at public
institutions is without cost. To offset the price,
the university's leaders are planning to make
scholarships of varying amounts available to every
student.
The university's leaders are hoping that an
institution with an American name and American
standards will prove attractive here. As Fouad Ajami,
a professor at Johns Hopkins University and a member
of the Iraqi university's board of trustees, put it:
"America's greatest exports are Hollywood and higher
education."
iht com
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