Iraqi students kick off US summer program in Detroit

DETROIT – Nearly 100 Iraqi students are launching a summer of learning, networking and relationship-building in the United States at Detroit’s Wayne State University.

The school’s Office of International Programs was selected to host the orientation program for the monthlong Iraq Young Leaders Exchange Program for Undergraduates. It’s scheduled to start Tuesday.

The program, which provides participants with their first look at the U.S. and university life, aims to impart leadership development, civil rights, respect for diversity and community engagement. The group includes Sunni, Shiite, Turkmen, Assyrian, Yazidi and Kurdish university students who don’t initially know each other.

After four days at Wayne State, the students will divide into groups and go to California State University at San Marcos, University of Arkansas, University of Texas at Austin or Washington State University.