The arrival in February 2004 of the first group of Fulbright students and scholars from Iraq in more than a decade underscores the U.S. commitment to helping Iraq reengage with the outside world through cultural, professional and academic exchanges, according to Patricia Harrison, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Harrison spoke at a press briefing on January 23 along with Tom Farrell, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs.

Fulbright is one of the oldest and most prestigious exchange programs sponsored by the U.S. government. Since 1946, more than 255,000 individuals from the United States and other countries have participated, including Nobel laureates, prime ministers and heads of state, university faculty, business leaders, artists, and scientists.

"The value of the Fulbright Program cannot be overestimated," Harrison said. "When the Iraqi Fulbrighters come to this country, they will be able to interact, for a long period of time, 12 months to two years, with Americans. So they will be having their own impressions of what it's like in this country, with so many diverse groups."

There are 23 Iraqi students and two more senior scholars in the Fulbright group, 19 men and 6 women.

In his remarks, Deputy Assistant Secretary Farrell stressed the binational character of the Fulbright program, pointing out that Iraqi higher education officials helped identify the priority areas for study and oversee the recruitment process.

Farrell said, "The priority areas were related to rule of law -- democracy-building, economic opportunity, communication skills -- especially in the area of English teaching. Public health, which is felt to be a critical need in Iraq -- I think everyone recognizes that -- journalism; open media and open society, and environmental concerns."

Harrison read an e-mail from one Iraqi Fulbright student: "It was just like someone handing you the keys of your future gates and making you the only one in charge of your own promotion. I am not going to miss this chance. I will make history. I will get a masters degree and return to my country to teach and build a perfect generation."

Department of State
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
Washington, DC
January 23, 2004

The Iraqi Fulbright Program

Patricia Harrison
Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs

Tom Farrell
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs

On-The-Record Special Briefing

MR. ERELI: Thank you for coming to this briefing on the Iraqi Fulbright Program. We have Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs Patricia Harrison, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Tom Farrell, who are here to talk to us about the first crop of -- or the newest crop of Iraqi Fulbrighters, who will be coming to the United States next week -- or I'm sorry -- in early February.

This is, I think, a strong indication of just how much better things are getting in Iraq that we can recruit and bring to the United States, really, the next generation of Iraqi leaders, who are going to study here and return to their country and contribute to making Iraq a better place, which is what the Fulbright Program is all about.

So let me turn it over to Assistant Secretary Harrison who will talk to us about the program and what's going on and Deputy Assistant Secretary Farrell, who, with her, will answer your questions.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: Thank you, Adam. Good afternoon. Let me just give you a little brief background. As Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, I oversee a bureau that conducts approximately 35,000 exchanges, professional, academic and cultural, annually. So it was within this context that I traveled to Iraq in September with Tom Farrell and colleagues from NEA and others from the Department of State. And we had specific goals: How can we work with the Iraqi people through the process of the -- the exchange process to help them reengage with the outside world utilizing cultural, professional and academic exchanges?

I think it's interesting that we're here today because exactly 23 years ago, the United States signed a cultural agreement with Iraq, an agreement that was basically between the people of the United States and Iraq, to "encourage exchange of citizens and professionals, teachers, technicians, students and other individuals from all walks of life."

So on this particular trip to Baghdad, and in the spirit that's laid out by that agreement, and also the mandate we have to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries, we worked with the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra and world-renowned musician Yo-Yo Ma to negotiate the orchestra playing with the National Symphony Orchestra, and that occurred this December with the National Symphony Orchestra at Kennedy Center.

And just so you understand, these programs that we are engaged in are not one off photo ops. We are still working with the orchestra. We are sending specialists in the performing arts, performing arts management, to help them take the orchestra to the next step in terms of management and professional outreach. We also met with officials from Baghdad's museum. We have made a contribution of $2 million to help codify the antiquities that were being returned to really improve the conditions of the museum, to help preserve Iraqis' cultural heritage. We are still working with them.

And as part of that trip, Tom and I met with the rectors of the universities in Baghdad to listen to what their priorities were, to help them rebuild what Saddam Hussein had destroyed, and basically, they once had a very vital education, now faces enormous financial and reconstruction challenges. And all of them asked, "Would it be possible to re-launch, restart the Fulbright Program?" The answer was yes. We returned, one month later. Ambassador Paul Bremer and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage announced the reestablishment, after more than a decade of the Fulbright Program in Iraq.

And I just want to make the point that none of this would have been possible without the leadership of Ambassador Bremer, the commitment of Ambassador Ghougassian, the commitment of the Iraqi academic community, and the dedication of so many people beyond the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs throughout the Department of State, and notably, NEA.

Now, I know you know Ambassador Bremer is going to speaking to the press in Baghdad on Sunday, joined by a group of Iraqi students and scholars, talking about this launch -- the resumption of the Fulbright Program. The scholarships are really tangibles that underscore we're committed to Iraq for the long-term in a sustainable way, helping Iraqis renew their proud heritage in terms of education and culture. And I just want to make the point that the value of the Fulbright Program cannot be overestimated. When the Iraqi Fulbrighters come to this country, they will be able to interact, for a long period of time, 12 months to two years, with Americans. So they will be making their own -- having their own impressions of what it's like, this country, with so many diverse groups. How do we actually practice the concept of freedom of religion with so many different religions in this country? What does it mean to have a media that is free to operate?

They will then return to Iraq and in their chosen field of study, or whatever they choose to do, we'll be making a contribution, and we'll understand a little more from these personal stories, as we did with the orchestra members, exactly the hell that they have gone through under Saddam Hussein.

I just want to close -- this is a -- with an e-mail message. This is from one of the Fulbrighters who wrote, and I'm quoting exactly, "It was just like someone handing you the keys of your future gates and making you the only one in charge of your own promotion. I am not going to miss this chance. I will make history. I will get a Masters degree and return to my country to teach and build a perfect generation. For me..." -- and I'm going to be using this quote a lot. It really sums up what the exchange process is all about, a tried and true connector between Americans and those from other countries. And we are working to ensure the non-negotiable demands of human dignity, and I'm very proud to be associated with this program, and the people who worked so hard to make it happen over a period of almost 60 years."

Thank you. Tom.

MR. FARRELL: Good afternoon. As Pat said, Fulbright, it really is sending a strong signal of the United States' commitment to an ongoing relationship, a long-term relationship with Iraq, the people of Iraq. And you know, we listened both to Ambassador Bremer, the leadership in the Department and the U.S. university community, but especially to the Iraqi community, who all told us that they needed to reconnect at the academic level if they were going to move their society forward. And with the establishment of Fulbright, I think we have -- are demonstrating that -- the Fulbright principles of open and national competition, and especially the element of partnership.

Fulbright is a partnership program. The priorities were set jointly with Iraqi higher education leaders and people in the government, and American officials. And those priorities were very keenly felt by those doing the recruitment in Iraq for the Fulbright Program.

The priority areas were related to rule of law; democracy-building; economic opportunity; communication skills -- especially in the area of English teaching -- public health, which is felt to be a critical need in Iraq -- I think everyone recognizes that; journalism; open media and open society; and environmental concerns; and so those were the -- the fields we that we privileged, basically listening to what the Iraqis were saying and what we were learning on the field.

The outreach program, the recruitment program, was phenomenal, and I think Pat and I were overwhelmed with the response of our colleagues both in DOD and the State Department, other people who have been seconded to the Coalition Provisional Authority. We had truly a national competition, an open competition.

Using the 18 provincial centers, we disseminated Fulbright applications, Fulbright information. There was open access through various means of communication, including the Internet, high level of interest -- there were thousands of inquiries. Many hundreds of people submitted applications. Nearly 400 of those applications were deemed to be, to cross the merit bar that Fulbright requires, the high standard that Fulbright requires. And those people, those applications, were reviewed by bi-national committees of Iraqis and Americans in Iraq.

After the first cut was made in terms of, you know, looking at qualifications by that bi-national committee, English language testing was provided at six centers around Iraq for the candidates. And then a final review process was undertaken, headed up by senior U.S. officials, representatives, for instance, from the U.S. Agency for International Development as well as CPA, people well-versed in public diplomacy efforts, Foreign Service officers, but also rectors of Iraqi universities and many, several Iraqi Fulbrighters, people of distinction, Iraqis of distinction who had participated in their earlier years as Fulbright students in the United States.

So we were happy to see the continuing connectivity and further proof of the benefits of this program, long-term commitment to, as I said, open competition and good bi-national relationships. And we're looking forward to the students arriving. There are 23 students. We had focused on young people, but Fulbright is a flexible program; and although we focused on students, we also accepted two more advanced individuals, researchers. We're calling them scholars. They're not exactly the typical Fulbright scholar, but they're of an age where -- and they've got the background that really makes us think of them more as scholars than as students.

So we have 23 students: 2 scholars, 19 men, 6 women. Outreach to women was a key factor for us, and we're going to be continuing to make efforts in this area. And those Fulbrighters will be arriving on Sunday night in New York. They'll get a quick overview tour of New York City.

On Sunday, they'll be coming here by bus, on Sunday, arriving in Washington, February 1st, and begin a week of orientation at the Department, meeting other individuals in government through that week. And then they will proceed to four sites in the United States at the University of Arizona, University of Oregon, Indiana University and University of California, Santa Cruz, where they'll engage in what we -- our term of art is pre-academic training; it's a special period.

We want to make sure that every Fulbrighter succeeds and has all the skills she or he needs to succeed in their academic discipline, so they'll be engaged in English language refinement, English for special purposes because many of these people are going to go into very specialized fields, and they need the right sort of vocabulary for public health, for law or for economics. And they'll also take classes in computer literacy. And I'm using very basic terms.

Many of them are certainly well versed in computer, but just in terms of the skills, the various software packages that they're going to need in their academic programs. They'll also be introduced to U.S. academic culture, use of the libraries, research methodology system, professor-student culture in the United States, rules of behavior, and then a general overview of U.S. society values and institutions. And the periods of pre-academic training will depend on their skill level and the need for English refinement.

In fact, the two scholars will be only spending about a month in pre-academic training. They'll be moving, after a month, one, to Ohio University, and another to the University of Texas at Austin. And then the others, when they finish their particular programs, in the summer and in the fall, they'll be placed at academically appropriate universities around the country because we want them to both understand the full range of the United States, the diversity and the variety of the United States, but we want as many different Americans to experience the really valuable mutual understanding that people-to-people relationships can bring. So they'll be placed at universities around the country, and they'll be here, as Pat said, for Masters-level studies for between one year and two years, and then they will return to Iraq.

I'll conclude by saying that we're right now gearing up when Ambassador Ghougassian goes back to Iraq, he will begin to provide the planning and the implementation for another national recruitment so that the students coming in 2005 will be, once again, well selected and well served, and then, in addition, we've been so pleased with the quality of students that we are adding a number of opportunities. We're going to be bringing some Iraqi students, teachers in training, who will work, actually, in American colleges and universities that would not have access to Arabic speaking. They'll be serving as Arabic language assistants, but they will also be improving their English and improving their understanding of the United States so when they go back to Iraq to pursue their careers in teaching, they'll have a better understanding of us.

And then, you know, Pat had talked about the continuum of this program. We'll be working more seriously in the area of culture, bringing a group of -- not through the Fulbright Program, but through another Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs Program -- a group of very young professionals, mostly women, in the field of museum studies, preservation and museum display. And they'll be coming in February.

Thank you.

QUESTION: Okay, can I ask a couple logistical questions? When -- before, before it was stopped ten years ago, when did the Fulbright Scholar -- when did the program begin in Iraq? Did it begin with this agreement that you signed with Saddam's government 23 years ago?

MR. FARRELL: Well, actually, I think there was a little -- first of all the first Fulbright students were exchanged between the U.S. and Iraq in 1951.

QUESTION: All right.

MR. FARRELL: And then there was a cultural agreement -- it was actually 43 years ago, so it -- the cultural agreement was signed in 1961, between the American Ambassador and the minister of education.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: Right. I (inaudible). (Laughter.)

QUESTION: All right, so -- so between 195-, -- and when -- it was suspended, I guess, at the Gulf War?

MR. FARRELL: It was suspended at -- around the time of the Gulf War. There had been some intermediate suspensions in the '80s due to security concerns and the war between Iraq and Iran. We had the last Fulbrighters in the academic year in 1989 and 90. And then it was suspended at the time of the Gulf War.

QUESTION: Right. And about how many per year were coming between '51 and '89-'90?

MR. FARRELL: It was --

QUESTION: About this number?

MR. FARRELL: It was regular -- it's sporadic. No, this is a very significant increase. Over the period of time from 1951 until 1979, there were less -- there were fewer than 200 Iraqis who had participated in the program and only about 100 Americans who had participated in the program. So this is a big, big push.

QUESTION: What percentage of women were these 400 applications that you deemed worthy of looking at? And was there any -- was it statistically pretty much the same as the number of applications you got in overall?

MR. FARRELL: I'll have to get --

QUESTION: Because obviously, between 19 and six, that's a big difference.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: Well, part of the challenge, too, is that Hussein -- there were a lot of women in the universities, and he was concerned that they were outnumbering men. So there was actually a quota. And one of the things, even though if you want to look at this in the aggregate in terms of six women, it's still a very, very important step. I think the other thing I want to mention is, as Tom said, so many people applied and those people who didn't qualify to take the test were still aware of the program. And this all augers very well for what we want to do for the academic exchanges in Iraq.

As this group, then, gets up to speed -- not that all of them need, or will become Fulbrighters -- but it showed the incredible interest in these young people. For the most part -- I think the age is what, 20 to 40, in this group?

MR. FARRELL: 22.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: 22, wanting to reconnect with the outside world. And our emphasis, we -- I think the other point is, in the selection process, they made every attempt to have diversity on ethnic religious lines. They also went so far as to ensure that it wouldn't be perceived, because actually they wouldn't do it this way, that the son or daughter of someone would be in line to have, to have any of these scholarships.

QUESTION: And what was the percentage of women who applied?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: I don't have that answer.

MR. FARRELL: You don't have it.

QUESTION: Oh, you don't have it?

MR. FARRELL: No.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: You mean, out of, let's say, 1,000? I don't know.

QUESTION: Yeah, say -- I mean, were they --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: We can find out.

MR. FARRELL: We can find out.

QUESTION: Well, I'm just curious if the women applied, you know, in strong numbers and --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: Right, it's a good question. I don't know.

QUESTION: Do you know how many the 400 were called from -- how many actual applications there were?

MR. FARRELL: There were the 400. There were another 300 applications that were received, but they were either not complete or the people did not reach the requirement.

QUESTION: So 700 applied --

MR. FARRELL: Yeah.

QUESTION: -- total?

MR. FARRELL: And then there were a number of inquires made and, like a follow-up.

QUESTION: I mean, they may not have had access to the English language. Were they only allowed -- were the only ones -- were the 400 all -- they all had to have English language skills already or --

MR. FARRELL: When they initially applied, they were told that they needed to have a good basis in English, but we also decided that people who could demonstrate their commitment to their particular field, and also were in fields that were deemed to be critical, as I said, law, public health and others, that the State Department would provide them whatever language training was needed to bring them up to the level. That's why so many of them are being provided with this special -- a lengthier pre-academic program.

QUESTION: And how does this 26 compare to the restart of the program in Afghanistan?

MR. FARRELL: In Afghanistan, we committed to 20 students for the first year.

QUESTION: So it's relatively --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: Similar.

QUESTION: -- similar. Okay.

MR. FARRELL: Right.

QUESTION: Do you remember the breakdown of women from the Afghan winners?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: I don't have it here. We do have it.

MR. FARRELL: We're in the process of doing that. There are seven -- I think there are seven women applying, and that also includes women participating in the Humphrey Program because we've decided to -- in Afghanistan under the Fulbright umbrella, the Humphrey Program, which is a Fulbright activity for mid-career people.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: Approximately, 46 percent of our exchanges now comprise women, and that is a big jump from previous years.

QUESTION: Worldwide, you mean?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: Yeah, worldwide. There are a lot of reasons for that, all good reasons, and so we're seeing an increase across the board.

QUESTION: I just want to make sure I got this right. In the program, before it was suspended, fewer than 200 --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: Right, total.

MR. FARRELL: Iraqis.

QUESTION: Yeah, and fewer than a hundred Americans went there. Now, how many Americans applied to go to Iraq this time around, or is that not --

MR. FARRELL: We --

QUESTION: -- is that direction not being done at the moment?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: It will be.

MR. FARRELL: It will be. And we specifically launched the program listening to both what the Iraqis said they needed. You'll -- and some of you may recall that there have been groups of American university presidents traveling to Iraq to consult with their counterparts. There have -- other people have been consulting with the Iraqis asking, you know, where is the greatest critical need? And the need was to reconnect the graduate-level, student-level on the program. So we basically put our eggs all in the student basket, although we did provide this flexibility to include a couple of older people and more advanced.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: Thank you. (Laughter.)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: The interesting thing in that conversation with directors from the universities goes to your point. They very much want the Fulbright Program with the component of Americans coming to these universities to help them. When you're sitting and talking to these people, the need is so great that you can't even -- I don't think we've found adequate words to communicate what they have gone through.

We also met with a group of women; I would say, for the most part, community leaders. They have had jobs in the healthcare area. And one of them said, "We have been living in the equivalent of an insane asylum, and it is going to take time for us to even understand what you're saying to us to build that trust again."

The value of Fulbright, it is so long-term, so sustainable, and as Tom said, it's not something that is set in concrete except for the high standards, and that's why it's still vital today. So we're very excited about both Afghanistan and Iraq. And I'm equally looking forward to the Americans who will go back to Iraq and we're planning to go in the not-too-distant future.

MR. FARRELL: And you know, not -- I think you -- we'd want to convey to you that the American academic sector is literally banging on our doors to have the opportunity to assist in Iraq, to go to Iraq, to teach in Iraq, to work in Iraq. So this is something we want to move on very quickly. QUESTION: Not to be (inaudible), but are you worried about the security of these people at all? I mean any -- obviously, --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: The Iraqis?

QUESTION: Yeah, and well, the Americans going into Iraq, not the Iraqis coming here. But I mean, is that one of the reasons why it hasn't quite started yet, why you haven't, why they're not on their way over there at the same time?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: Well, as Tom said, the first need was to have the Iraqi Fulbrighters come here.

Security, I think we are living in a world right now where security is in the foremost of everyone's mind. And when we were there in Baghdad, certainly you could understand the need for that.

What has happened, though, to go to the security question, when the members of the Iraqi orchestra were returning home, they had some trepidation, you know, in terms of -- this was right before Saddam Hussein was captured. And they arrived in two planes. And the first group got off and was given the news that he had been captured.

They all ran out to greet the other group. They were crying, hugging themselves. It was as if this huge weight had been lifted from their shoulders, so there is the psychological security enabling people of good will to get out and do what they have to do build their society, aware that there are those who would blast them back to a past that offers nothing, no opportunity, and has held them, you know, in the place where they were for so many years.

I am amazed, I mean, I am not a Foreign Service Officer -- amazed at the Foreign Service, where they're willing to go without any consideration at all, any thought about, "I'm not going because of my own safety." We have so many people volunteering to go to Iraq right now from the academic community outside of the Foreign Service, from business people -- it is just really amazing. People want to know, how can I go, how can I help? And they don't even ask, primarily, about how will I be safe?

QUESTION: And there won't be any security -- any extra security given to these students?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: Yeah. There's training. There is -- it's a situation where it isn't 100 percent safe, but at the same time it's getting safer all the time.

QUESTION: Well that's true in Malaysia or in Indonesia or anywhere else.

QUESTION: Do you have a dollar figure for the Iraq program this year?

MR. FARRELL: Yes, for the Iraq Fulbright Program?

QUESTION: Yeah.

MR. FARRELL: It's -- Pat had allocated just, I think, $1.2 million and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs wanted to prime the pump with this, so, well that's what this is costing.

QUESTION: Right. Thank you.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRISON: Thank you.