About 25 percent of entering freshmen will study abroad by the time they graduate. Every year, the Study Abroad Program takes students to Oxford, England and Montevideo, Uruguay to experience a new culture while practicing the ACU mission in and out of the classroom.

In the Spring semester of 2010 and 2011, students will be given the opportunity to experience a new culture in Leipzig, Germany.

The German-American Chamber of Commerce contacted ACU several years ago about considering Leipzig as a possible Study Abroad site, said Kevin Kehl, executive director of the Center for International and Intercultural Education. ACU’s first visit to Leipzig was in April 2006 and included a meeting with local government officials about the potential host city. This prompted three follow-up visits before the first student program with the Psychology Department in the summer of 2007.

Four programs have visited the site to date – one with the College of Business Administration and three with the Psychology Department.

Stephen Shewmaker, associate director of the Center for International and Intercultural Education, visited the site with Kehl in 2006. He has been heavily involved with structuring the program in preparation for sending students next semester and said he has been pleasantly surprised with students’ reactions.

Kehl said spots are still available, and he anticipates 15 participants.

“As we introduce the program, we’ll open up additional spaces,” he said.

Page Prather, junior international studies major from Lamesa and student worker in the Study Abroad office, said the student reaction and response has been slow, but the department is working to find more ways to publicize the program, such as mail-outs to sophomores and the T-shirt displayed by Dr. Royce Money in Tuesday’s Chapel.

Prather said she has heard positive feedback from the students who are aware of the program.

“It’s going to open up a whole new world of places to travel.”

These places include Berlin, Vienna, Wittenburg, Dresden, Weimar and a weeklong excursion through Central and Eastern Europe, according to the program application. Kehl said students will also take a trip to Croatia.

Laura Hufstedler, sophomore communications major from Glen Rose, and Jacqueline Maxwell, sophomore elementary education major from Abilene, are attending the premier semester in Leipzig.

“I was going to apply for Oxford, but I filled out half the packet and for some reason, just never finished it,” Hufstedler said. “I guess God wants me to go to Germany, because I saw it on myACU, and I think I was signed up the next day.”

Maxwell said she was on the waiting list to go to Oxford, but chose Leipzig for its uniqueness.

“It’s different,” Maxwell said. “Not everyone from ACU can say they’ve studied abroad in Germany, and that’s so exciting.”

Prather said it is a great opportunity for students to learn another language by being immersed in the culture from which it originated, while “fulfilling the mission of ACU to go into the world,” she said.

Maxwell said she anticipates the experiences she will have during the semester.

“I love experiencing different cultures, and I really hope to be completely enriched by the culture and learn so much from new places and people,” she said.

“It’s an experience that has a lot of layers to it,” Shewmaker said. “Our students now have an opportunity that has not been traversed by American students in many years.”

Students interested can stop by the Study Abroad office in Room 124 of the Administration Building or send an e-mail to acustudyabroad@gmail.com. Students may still apply for the Spring 2010 program, and information is available regarding the Spring 2011 program.