DeKALB | On Nov. 25, NIU will be welcoming students of the Southeast Asian Youth Leadership Program.

The program plans to bring in 32 high school students between the ages of 15 and 17 from Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam. There will be one instructor that accompanies the students. That individual is chosen to be more of an overseer.

This is the first time that this program has been conducted and James Collins, director for the center of Southeast Asian studies, feels honored that NIU was the first school chosen to host the program.

“Being that we are so adjacent to a major diverse city and the fact that our Southeast Asian department is one of the oldest and the only undergrad department in the nation, we felt like we could not be overlooked for the introduction of this program,” Collins said.

In order for students to be approved for the program, they must complete an English language screening program and have outstanding academic credentials.

The program will last for more than three weeks, where students will stay in the DeKalb area and reside in the Holmes Student Center.

Julia Lamb, the outreach associate for the Southeast Asian department, is currently seeking families in the DeKalb community to host some of the students.

“Unfortunately, I’m not sure if I will let any of the students stay with me even though I understand the values that the program entails,” said Nick Curry, junior health administration major. “Inviting people that I don’t know into my home was just not a part of my upbringing.”

The program is designed to promote leadership skills, civic responsibility and promote active roles in the community.

These students will work to try to improve societies in their native countries by further developing skills in the program. The program will help students to better understand themselves.

“By hosting, a family does not have to leave their home to volunteer, they simply open up their home, heart and mind to create a mutually beneficial learning environment,” said host family coordinator Leslie Shive.

Shive believes that engaging Americans more globally is a high priority of the department, giving exchange students a chance to learn about American life in the first person. Shive also notes that hosting exchange students provides an education for all family members concerning another culture and hosting provides an opportunity for American families to be ambassadors without leaving home.

The program is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Collins is looking forward to implementing some undergraduate students to help organization of the program. Students will work with community groups, community leaders and NIU students.

“Southeast Asian countries are some of the United State’s biggest trading partners,” Collins said. “With terrorism having a dominant approach in these countries, this program can create and depict a more appropriate image of the U.S.”

There will be another edition of the program in April 2010.

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