University of Indianapolis to establish branch campus in Israel
8/8/2000 News media contact: Linda Green · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn By United Methodist News Service United Methodist-related University of Indianapolis is joining with an interfaith private school in Galilee to establish a branch campus and assist the school in becoming the first Arab-Palestinian-Christian university in Israel.
The Rev. Elias Chacour, 61, a Melkite Catholic priest and director of the Mars Elias Educational Institute in Ibillin, Israel, visited the Indiana university Aug. 2 to forge a partnership so that the school can become a university. Chacour founded the institute in 1981. It has grown from 80 students to well over 3000, in from kindergarten through high school, and more recently college.
By the fall of 2001, the nearly century-old United Methodist school will offer four of its degree programs at the Mars Elias campus. The university has similar programs in the Mediterranean, especially in Greece and Cyprus.
According to Jerry Israel, university president, Chacour chose the University of Indianapolis for the venture because the schools have a similar mission of interfaith respect and education for service. Chacour received the World Methodist Peace Award in 1994.
"The university's mission of education for service has a strong local orientation here at home but also has an international dimension that we see as possible throughout the world," Israel said.
For a school of its size, the University of Indianapolis has one of the highest percentages of international students in the state, Israel said.
Chacour has a goal to draw together students and faculty of many faiths, including Jewish, Christian, Moslem and Druze, so that they may live, learn and work towards a common future. He also is assistant to the bishop in Haifa.
Israel said the university has been engaged in a yearlong conversation with Chacour and other Mars Elias representatives working out details of the first curriculum and preparing to meet accreditation standards. A number of university students will visit the Israeli school as part of the 2001 Spring Break.
"I am hopeful that as an accredited branch campus of the University of Indianapolis, the Mars Educational Institute will be well on its way toward becoming the first Arab-Palestinian-Christian university in Israel," Chacour said.
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