For the second year, a group of international scholars visited Fremont as part of the professional and academic Fulbright Scholar exchange program.
Seven Fulbright scholars were in Fremont Wednesday and this morning to get a taste of life in a smaller community, said Allan Hale, executive director of the Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce, which coordinates the visit locally.
"They want to explore rural community life in the United States," Hale said. "Some of them have already visited other communities. They're trying to experience as much of the U.S. as they can."
Their packed schedule Wednesday included a visit to Fremont Municipal Airport, where they got a bird's-eye view of the city and outlying areas; lunch at the Fremont Golf Club; as well as visits to Fremont Area Medical Center, RK Aerials and North American Nutrition Companies.
The scholars spent the night with host families before visiting the Sidner Ice Arena this morning. The ice arena was the only stop on today's schedule before they were to leave.
The group was among 42 Fulbright scholars in Nebraska this week. The visit to Fremont and other cities was part of a four-day orientation for students who have been awarded the highly-competitive Fulbright scholarship for fall 2005, according to Susan Miller, the program coordinator for international affairs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Community visits are part of the Fulbright orientation, according to information released by the international affairs department. Scholars divide into groups with each group visiting a community. Groups also visited Crete, Beatrice, Columbus, Nebraska City, Seward and York.
The Fulbright scholars going through the Nebraska orientation come from 30 countries, Miller said. UNL is one of four universities in the United States to be awarded this year's orientation through a competitive bid process.
"Our orientation in Nebraska is different than the others," she said. "We have built in a segment that looks at civil society. We want them to see how small communities get things done. We picked what we consider to be seven rather progressive small towns in Nebraska. The other universities don't do that as part of their orientations. The others universities have a three-day orientation that strictly covers their needs at a university. We add a fourth day.
"I think one of the reasons we were asked to do it again was the great response from the communities and the comments from the students. It's something unique that they won't get through their orientations at their host universities."
Students are assigned which orientation they go to, she said.
"When they come to Nebraska, we think they've won a lottery."
Everyone in the Fulbright program is a master's- or doctoral-level student at universities across the country, she said. None of the students going through the Nebraska orientation are UNL students, but there are some scholars going through the Fulbright orientation at other universities who are UNL students.
Also, there are Nebraskans who are going through the Fulbright program in other countries, she said.
The program is funded through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State and administered by the Institute of International Education.
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