Students relate internationally

The University will graduate a group of the brightest students anywhere in the world this spring when participants in the Huntsman Program in International Studies receive their degrees in May. The Huntsman Program integrates business, liberal arts and foreign language in a demanding dual-degree program between the College of Arts and Sciences and the Wharton School. According to the program's World Wide Web site, "The objective of the Huntsman Program is to produce a new generation of graduates who will possess a genuine 'global' competence." To achieve this goal, the program's 131 students spend one semester studying in a country that uses their target language. The students who participate in the program are a diverse and talented group. Recruited from 30 states and 20 countries, they are fluent in a wide range of languages. With such talent, the selection process is extremely competitive. This year's freshman class, for example, consists of 37 students with a mean Scholastic Assessment Test score of 1517. While the program's students said they are often bogged down by books, many stressed that they have found their studies rewarding. Judy Chen, a sophomore in the program, noted, "We get the best of a college education -- practicality and reality from the Wharton School and also the chance to expand our minds from the more liberal College of Arts and Sciences." Freshman Kyle Smith added that "having a specialized program means? two degrees for the price of one. What does that mean? More earning power!" With the program housed on the third floor of King's Court/English House, the students have the opportunity to form a close, tight-knit community. Freshman Monica Young, for example, said the group does almost everything together. "We stick together, eat together, live together and study together," she said. "As a result we've been jokingly referred to as 'those incestuous IS&B; kids'." The program was created four years ago, but was renamed in January after Wharton alumnus Jon Huntsman donated $10 million to the initiative. The program will be in the spotlight this spring when it graduates its first class, according to Virginia Mace, one of its coordinators. The ambitions of the seniors are as diverse as the students themselves. Most of the graduating seniors will be working for international consulting firms or attending law school. Others, meanwhile, are applying for international research grants, the Peace Corps and medical school.