MEPI Student Leaders Program
Student Leaders Program Participants in front of Spirit the Bobcat statue, 2023
The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Student Leaders Program is part of the U.S. Department of State’s public diplomacy initiative in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Funded and administered by the State Department, Montana State University has hosted the Student Leaders Program since 2005. MSU is one of the four American universities that host this prestigious program.
Each Institute offers an intensive four-week program for 15 students from the MENA region. The program focuses on the development of the participants’ leadership skills, community engagement and expands their understanding of American society and culture. It includes an academic program conducted by scholars and other professionals with expertise in leadership, cross-cultural communication, conflict resolution, human rights, and service learning. Through this program, participants learn skills that they take home and use to improve their own communities. Participants are also invited to attend an alumni conference in the Middle East or North Africa within one year of the conclusion of the program.
Student Leaders Alumni Engagement & Collaboration Initiative
Sharing Student Leader Strengths
In 2020, due to the global pandemic, the MEPI program was put on hiatus for a year. This created an opportunity for the MEPI universities to reach out to the1,447 alumni from 19 countries, who had been a part of the Student Leaders Program over the previous 15 years. MSU reached out to all of its MEPI Alumni to ask them to join a virtual exchange program, which focused on online collaboration and the development of transferable and relevant skills specific to the pandemic. The program offered activities that allowed MEPI SLP alumni to re-connect, network, and collaborate on existing projects, as well as help launch new ones. MSU engaged a total of 361 alumni over the course of this online program.
Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, West Bank/Gaza, and Yemen
Alumni in the News.
Host Student Leaders.
PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR FAMILIES: In case of EMERGENCY, contact MSU's Student Leaders Program Administrative Director Janelle Rasmussen by phone 1.406.994.7602 or by email jrasmussen@montana.edu.
