FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28, 2005

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, (515) 202-1773, or lisa.lacher@drake.edu

DRAKE STUDENT TRAVELS TO ISRAEL TO WITNESS DISENGAGEMENT

Bryan Klopack, Drake University student body president, will join a delegation of 14 student body presidents on a trip to Israel Saturday, July 30, on Project Interchange’s 12th annual Seminar in Israel for University Student Body Presidents. The delegation includes student body presidents from universities nationwide.

The seven-day seminar will provide these student leaders with a first-hand introduction to Israeli politics and society and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The students will learn about on Israel’s disengagement from Gaza, Arab-Jewish coexistence, and the Middle East peace process, education and immigrant absorption. They will also visit Christian and Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem and Galilee.

“I am incredibly excited to experience the Israeli disengagement first hand,” said Klopack. “This is absolutely the opportunity of a lifetime, not only to witness history in the making, but to represent both my university and my country.”

“During this pivotal time in Israel, with the impending unilateral disengagement from Gaza, it is vital that young American leaders are educated about Israel and the importance of the US-Israel relationship,” said seminar founder State Senator Stanford Adelstein (R-SD). “We are proud to have such an accomplished and diverse delegation of student leaders participating in this year’s seminar.”
Participants will meet with leading Israeli and Palestinian policymakers, academics, and government officials; spend time with Arab and Jewish representatives of various sectors of society; and receive in-depth briefings on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israeli politics and the US-Israel relationship.

“I am naturally a little nervous about the security issues involved with actually being present during the Israeli disengagement,” said Klopack. “However, it is such a great honor to be amongst the nation’s top young leaders and have the opportunity to meet with Palestinian and Israeli political officials to discuss future peace; I simply cannot pass this up.”

Klopack is a senior business student from Country Club Hills, Ill., majoring in marketing and advertising. He has been involved in many areas of campus life for the past three years and was elected student body president in May. Upon graduation, Klopack plans to attend law school and eventually pursue a political career.

Founded in 1982, Project Interchange is the only national organization dedicated to providing educational seminars in Israel for America’s policy and opinion makers. Over the past decade, more than 3,500 distinguished Americans, including 300 students and 450 members of Congress and congressional staff, state officials, judges and journalists, have participated in the intensive seminars in Israel.

- 30 -