On Thursday, the Office of the President announced via email that Oberlin had entered into a partnership with both the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and the Global Foundation for the Performing Arts. Though UNITAR is collaborating with several institutions of higher education, Oberlin is the only undergraduate institution on the roster.

The partnership officially began yesterday, but the first initiative will take place in December of this year with a student choir and orchestra performance at Carnegie Hall in New York, where members of the U.N. will be in attendance. As the partnership develops, the College and UNITAR will collaborate to bring international students to Oberlin for summer English immersion programs.

Additionally, according to the Thursday email, students can expect programs during the academic year as well. 

“We will work with the U.N. on joint practice-based initiatives that include performance opportunities, educational and research opportunities, conferences, and symposia, all in partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and the Global Foundation for the Performing Arts,” the email read. 

According to Chief of Staff David Hertz, conversations began this past summer, when representatives of UNITAR reached out to College administrators.

“When they approached us in the summer, they said that they were assembling a small group of colleges and universities of high quality and similar ideals to work with the U.N. and coordinate on this academic program that would introduce international students to these higher education institutions and give them the opportunity that they otherwise wouldn’t have to attend these institutions,” Hertz said.

Hertz forecasts that this collaboration to bring students to Oberlin may begin as early as this coming summer and that the school-year programs could commence the following fall. 

“We plan on growing this partnership and developing it for a good number of years, and hopefully the fruits of that labor will continue to benefit Oberlin and the students who come here for 20, 30 years,” Hertz said.