UW Receives DOD Grant for ROTC Arabic Study Abroad Program

A program facilitated by the Department of Defense pays tuition and fees for students to enroll in a variety of “strategic” foreign-language programs at universities across the U.S. Wyoming students have participated in the program elsewhere, but this is the first time the university will host its own course.

“UW will become a leader in paving the way for the creation of Arabic language study-abroad opportunities for ROTC students at universities in our region,” University of Wyoming’s program director Eric Nigh said in a statement.

The program is called Project Global Officer, or Project GO, and provides universities across the nation with support to train ROTC students in languages from Russian to Hindi to Portuguese. Institutions including the Georgia Institute of Technology, James Madison University, Texas A&M and a litany of others have participated.

The University of Wyoming ROTC team runs a drill on the green in the middle of campus on Oct. 2, 2019 in Laramie. A program facilitated by the Department of Defense pays tuition and fees for students to enroll in a variety of “strategic” foreign-language programs at universities across the U.S. Wyoming students have participated in the program elsewhere, but this is the first time the university will host its own course.    Cayla Nimmo, Star-Tribune

More than 5,600 students have received scholarships through the grant since 2007, according to the program website.

Sponsored by the Defense Language and National Security Education Office, the grant provides the university’s Arabic and Middle East Studies program $461,000 for one year to cover costs of a 10-week summer program in Jordan. The grant may be extended “up to five years based on quality of performance,” according to the university. Students will be able to enroll in a prerequisite program taught at the University of Wyoming this Spring before shipping off to Jordan for 10 weeks this summer.

The University of Wyoming has an Army ROTC and an Air Force ROTC program. The grant-funded scholarships are open to any ROTC student in the U.S., not just UW students. Non-Wyoming students who participate in Wyoming’s program will be able to continue their Arabic studies at UW through online courses, which means more students will be exposed to the university.

“By co-opting students from universities without Arabic programs, we anticipate that around 10 additional students will continue taking Arabic at UW, in addition to the students we already have,” Nigh said.

Read the original article from the Star Tribune here.