During a recent visit to Europe, Cindy Fan, vice provost for international studies and global engagement, joined a delegation of UCLA leaders to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Erasmus University Rotterdam, or EUR, for a visiting student program on diversity, equity and inclusion.

“With this partnership, we strengthen the cooperation between UCLA and EUR, and we create international opportunities for traditionally underrepresented students,” said Fan. “International education is so important because the world is interconnected, because global challenges require global collaboration and because international experience makes you more competitive on the job market.

“I believe every student should have the opportunity of an international experience,” she concluded.

The new visiting program, slated to launch in June 2025, will enable students with diverse backgrounds — including first-generation and traditionally underrepresented students — from both Erasmus and UCLA to travel abroad to participate in lectures and workshops on equity, diversity and inclusion. Over time, it is anticipated that the program will expand to include staff exchanges as well as collaborative academic research on these key components of educational access.

UCLA was represented at the October 17, 2024 signing ceremony in Rotterdam by Fan, together with Charles Alexander, associate vice provost for student diversity and director of the UCLA Academic Advancement Program, or AAP; Claudia Salcedo, director of the UCLA Center for Community College Partnerships; and Ifeoma Amah, director of peer learning at UCLA AAP.

EUR was represented by Professor Annelien Bredenoord, president of the university’s executive board; Professor Jane Murray Cramm, chief diversity officer; a cross-section of students; and staff and leaders of the university’s Academic Outreach Programme and International Office.

“This wonderful partnership also crowns and recognizes the efforts of our IDEA Center and our Academic Outreach Programme,” said Cramm. “We’ll be working on important topics, eagerly and energetically, with the leaders of the future… and we [look] forward to welcoming the first group of students from UCLA in June!”

“The student exchange with Erasmus University will give first-generation, low-income and underrepresented AAP students an opportunity to study social justice issues and experience the Netherlands from a cultural lens,” said Alexander. “Students from this demographic seldom have the opportunity to participate in study abroad programs due to cost or family obligations. This will be a transformative experience for them and hopefully lead them to explore more study abroad opportunities.”

The MOU between UCLA and EUR grew out of a long history of collaborative programs and visits on issues of diversity, equity and educational access between UCLA and Dutch university leaders, spearheaded by Alexander and Abel Valenzuela, UCLA dean of social sciences.

A 2016 visit to UCLA by the Dutch minister for education, culture and science and a delegation of Dutch education specialists also helped advance collaborations between UCLA and The Netherlands. Among other activities, the delegation met students at a local community college that participates in the UCLA Center for Community College Partnerships, or CCCP; learned how the CCCP office works and how it trains student peer mentors; and discussed diversity initiatives at UCLA with the senior Bruin diversity leadership team.

During their October 2024 visit to The Netherlands, Vice Provost Fan and the UCLA delegation also met with educational specialists at the U.S. Embassy in The Hague to consider a number of initiatives to strengthen research and educational collaboration between the two countries. Among those initiatives are the new program with Erasmus University Rotterdam and an internship program of The Netherland-America Foundation.

The USA2Holland Internship Grant funds high-achieving, low-income U.S. college students to do a summer internship with a Dutch company. U.S. student awardees of the competitive grant receive direct financial support of US$ 10,000 (disbursed as a monthly stipend), travel reimbursement and visa support. The grant program is designed to give underrepresented students access to an international internship that can both enhance their career qualifications and broaden their global perspective without financial worry.

Applications for the 2025 USA2Holland summer internship grant are open through December 1, 2024. Applicants must be registered as a full-time student at an American college or university (or be a recent graduate), have at least a 3.0 GPA and meet a few additional requirements detailed on the application website.