On Dec. 5, DePaul held its third graduation ceremony held in Bahrain, a small country off the coast of Saudi Arabia, which was a prominent event signifying the ongoing outreach to students abroad.
While students in Chicago were enjoying their winter break, several of the Depaul faculty, including the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, DePaul president, was in Bahrain presenting 26 students with their MBA. The DePaul faculty was there along with dignitaries such as Abdulla H. Saif, advisor to the Bahrain Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, the U.S. Ambassador of Bahrain, as well as the Vice Admiral of the U.S. 5th Fleet.
Mike Jedel, associate dean, who attended as well, said that this program was in line with DePaul’s Vincentian mission of providing service in countries that needed attention. “We can really make a difference there,” Jedel says of the opportunity to start a program in Bahrain. The program was launched in 2001 in hopes of furthering the economy in Bahrain, as well as providing opportunities normally unavailable there.
The DePaul program, partnered with the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance, allows students to earn their MBA through accelerated courses, the entire program lasting 18 months. The students, many of which also hold full time jobs, complete 30 hours of coursework in two and a half weeks.
For many of the graduates, they were the first in their families to achieve an advanced education. Each student was allowed to bring eight family members and friends, making an attendance of over 200 for the formal event which included a commencement speech by Rasheed M. Al-Maraj, governor of the Bahrain Monetary Authority.
Besides Bahrain, DePaul has a similar program in the Czech Republic, outside of Prague. Students take all of their courses in the Republic except for the last course, which they travel to Chicago to complete. Students, then, participate in on-campus activities, and conclude the program with a graduation ceremony in Chicago.
Jedel says that programs such as these provide students in Chicago with a broader knowledge of global affairs. Jedel said, “students here need more familiarity with international issues,” and these programs are providing us all with an international outlet. All of the professors in Bahrain are professors from the DePaul Chicago campuses, who travel there to teach a single course and then return to Chicago to hopefully introduce a newfound knowledge of international affairs to their students. This opportunity is opening students up to a world they normally would not have the opportunity to learn from.
The programs held abroad are ongoing attempts to spread knowledge and make DePaul a more global community. According to Jedel, a program still in the works which would allow students from Chicago to study in the Czech Republic alongside Czech students. The program would be different from the usual study abroad program in that students would be learning in the same classes as students from the area.
