Two exchange students are shaking things up at Saint Louis Univerity.

Through the Visiting Student Program, Kurdish Iraqi students come to study music and English at SLU each year. Marc Thayer, the Vice President of Education and Community Partnerships at the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, works in partnership with SLU for the program. The idea came about after he taught violin and viola at the Unity Arts Academy in the Kurdistan region in Northern Iraq in 2007.

“The students in Iraq are very talented and have a lot of potential, but they don’t have enough opportunity for advanced training,” Thayer said. “They want to be able to study, but by the time they are 19 or 20 there is no more training available for them.”

Thayer wanted to bring the Kurdish students here so that they could continue their education. He contacted every university in the area and said that the only one that responded favorably was SLU.

With the help of Dr. Pamela Dees, program director for SLU’s music department, and Ismael Betancourt, the director of International Services at SLU at the time, Thayer was able to found the Visiting Student Program, convincing the administration to admit the students into the English as a Second Language program while they expanded their musical talents.

Dees said that she is delighted that the Kurdish students are able to study here at SLU.

“It’s a term called cultural diplomacy-people are people, everybody loves music, everybody makes music, and bringing cultures together through music and the arts is a natural step,” she said. “The arts have nothing to do with political beliefs or government policies-it all comes down to the basic level of humanity.”

The program began last year in the fall of 2008 when two Kurdish Iraqi students came to study music and English improved.

Alan Salih Mohammed, a violinist who studied at SLU last year and is now attending Forest Park Community College, found the first few months difficult but eventually felt comfortable as his English.

“Moving to the United States was a difficult adjustment because I did not know anyone, I was very far from home, the food was different, and interacting with people was different,” he said. “But studying at school helped.”

Both he and Alan Kamil Majeed, who is studying violin here this year, said they were shocked by how welcoming and friendly the SLU community has been. Karwan Mohammed is the other student taking part in the program this year.

For Thayer’s part, he hopes this program will increase music education overseas.

“The hope is that the students will go back to their homes to teach and develop music schools in Iraq,” he said.

The program already has one enthusiastic supporter in Alan Salih Mohammed.

“I get to do what I like, what I want to do in my life. I have a brilliant teacher. Studying at SLU was amazing,” he said. “I learned a lot with my teachers-English, culture, how to behave here, how to help people when they need it. Being independent is a great thing because I could grow within myself here in the United States.”

Thayer says students can help by supporting the two and helping them get used to the city,.

After all, he says, there can be added advantages.

“It’s always good to have a friend you can visit in another country,” he said.