In September 2022, Oberlin entered a partnership with the United Nations Institution for Training and Research and the Global Foundation for the Performing Arts. Oberlin is currently working with the two organizations to develop specific programs to bring more international students to Oberlin and help them gain English proficiency, if necessary. 

“We’re having ongoing conversations,” Oberlin Chief of Staff David Hertz said. “We have a call every Thursday that senior members of administration participate in with UNITAR and GFPA, and we’re talking about a variety of different programs and relationships and approaches.” 

UNITAR is an arm of the United Nations focused on education. It has partnerships with several other U.S. educational institutions, though Oberlin is the only one focused solely on undergraduate education. According to its website, UNITAR’s vision is to create a “world in which individuals, institutions and organizations are equipped with the knowledge, skills and other capacities to overcome global challenges.”

 “Our goal is to provide the kind of liberal arts education that Oberlin provides to more people from around the world,” Hertz said. “Our partners at UNITAR call it education and cultural diplomacy, which is a concept that we find very attractive because it’s within our mission of … educating students so they can go out and do good in the world.”

As a result  of the partnership, Oberlin plans to bolster its English for Speakers of Other Languages program. Before they matriculate, students who demonstrate low proficiency in English will be able to participate in an on-campus English immersion program. While this program was announced last December and slated to occur the summer of 2023, it was delayed. 

“The ESOL program we are envisioning would assist students who are speakers of other languages in gaining the proficiency in English to thrive in Oberlin classrooms and classrooms at other predominantly English language institutions of higher education,” Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences David Kamitsuka said. 

Kamitsuka said that he felt Oberlin benefits from students from diverse geographical backgrounds. He hopes the partnership will lead to internships and other educational opportunities for Oberlin students with U.N.-related agencies. Both Kamitsuka and Hertz stressed that the specifics of the partnership were a work in progress. 

“The collaboration between Oberlin and UNITAR and GFPA has been very constructive,” Kamitsuka said. “We look forward to being able to announce the initial fruits of this collaboration in the near future.”