Chinese and Turkish Students Attend Leadership Program at Westminster
In the above photos, Westminster student and Churchill Institute intern David McDermott, ’15, leads visiting students from China and Turkey around Westminster’s campus.
Eighteen Chinese university students and Turkish high school students will spend 10 days from July 17-28 at Westminster College in Fulton, MO, studying American culture, history, government, intensive English, and leadership.
Sponsored by Westminster’s Churchill Institute for Global Engagement, this marks the program’s third straight year. For the first time, Turkish students have participated.
Students will tour the Fulton community, the National Churchill Museum, visit the State Capitol, St. Louis and Kansas City.
“It’s a great program for these students. For many of them, it is their first time to the United States. It’s a great way to introduce them to our country, and work on their English, over 10 days in Fulton and Callaway County,” said Dr. Kurt Jefferson, Assistant Dean for Global Initiatives and the program’s director at Westminster College.
“We live in a globalizing community and this allows mid-Missourians to interact with students from different cultures and see how higher and secondary education have expanded their global footprint in Fulton and the surrounding area,” he said.
The Chinese students hail from Beijing Union University, an institution of 30,000 students. The Turkish students come from the Bilfen High School in Istanbul. Westminster has partnerships with both institutions; Westminster students have studied abroad at Beijing Union University in China, and Beijing Union University students have studied as exchange students at Westminster.
With 170 international students from 70 different countries, Westminster College has been recognized as the fourth most diverse small liberal arts college in the United States. U.S.News & World Report places the College 8th among national liberal arts colleges and first in Missouri for its proportion of international undergraduate students.
