La Mirada : Biola Initiates Exchange With Russian University

Thirteen Biola University undergraduates will initiate a student exchange program with the Soviet Union this summer, school officials have announced. The students currently take Russian courses and will continue their language study at Kiev State University in Kiev during a five-week trip starting in June.

Then next fall, half a dozen Soviet students will come to the Biola campus in La Mirada. Rather than enrolling in courses, the Christian university will arrange an itinerary that includes visiting hospitals, government facilities and private businesses, said Edward Norman, dean of continuing studies.

“We’re at the front of the pack” in arranging such exchanges, Norman said. “It’s a recent happening because of the recent opening up of their country. We’re delighted to have this opportunity early on.”

Academic Vice President Sherwood Lingenfelter laid the groundwork during his trip to the Soviet Union last summer, Norman said.

“The Russian students will be sharing about their culture, and our students look forward to sharing about the United States and perhaps even more, look forward to sharing their personal faith,” Norman said.

The Biola students will raise about $3,000 apiece to pay for the trip, Norman said. The university is seeking private donors to help defray the Soviets’ costs.

One portion of the exchange already has begun, with a visiting scholar from the Kiev Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages. Prof. Pavel Zernetsky is teaching Russian at Biola this spring while he researches the structure of the American sermon.