Gordon Gray, the U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia visits with Todd Joley of Worland, a University of Wyoming junior in secondary education, during Gray's visit to Wyoming last fall. The visit resulted in a new scholarship for Tunisian students to attend UW at reduced cost. (Photo: UW)
UW’s new Tunisian Student Program is a result of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Tunisia last March, when then-Prime Minister Caid Essebsi requested a U.S. degree program for Tunisian students at reduced costs. The state of Wyoming and The Republic of Tunisia jointly developed the program as part of its collaboration via the United States National Guard State Partnership Program. Wyoming and Tunisia have participated in this program since 2004.
The program was developed following U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia Gordon Gray’s visit to Wyoming in September to revitalize ties between the state and Tunisia. Ambassador Gray visited in Cheyenne with Gov. Matt Mead and members of the Wyoming Legislature. He also met with several UW faculty and administrators on campus.
Ambassador Gray discussed with UW the possibility of helping the United States follow-up on the new Tunisian government’s proposal for the U.S. to assist in providing greater access to higher education for students from Tunisia.
UW International Programs Director Anne Alexander said the program has benefited Tunisia, Wyoming, and UW considerably. The agreement sent entrepreneurs to Wyoming and Tunisia for market discussions. The deal also helped UW by filling a crucial need for Arabic language courses. An agreement with Tunisia’s University of Sfax lets UW host Tunisians professors to help plan Arabic courses and curriculum. It went on for three years and the last Arabic professor ending up staying at UW.
The joint venture also sent UW students to Tunisia so they could learn Arabic through a program called America-Mideast Educational and Training Services. With AMIDEAST, the UW students then went to a “language village” where they helped Tunisian students improve their English skills. Alexander said Tunisia and Wyoming have a common background since both gave women rights before many places in the world and that Tunisia has always stayed a strong, civil society despite the previous regime.She said the partnership has not been possible until fairly recently. Alexander notes that Tunisia’s upheaval has been less violent than most of the other countries in the Arab Spring and that the country is on a “good projection” for the future.
There are no plans currently to add more students to the scholarships, but Alexander said it is a pilot project so they can fix any glitches and might add more applicants in the future. She also explained that Gov. Mead made the deal even better by offering internships at his office to the Tunisian students who complete one year of the scholarship.
