Fifty delegates from across the globe will gather at the College in April for a world summit to develop projects on issues facing the Middle East and North Africa. The summit, organized by the DAYDREAMS Project, will feature youth leaders representing most Middle Eastern and North African countries in addition to delegates from the United States and Central and Southeast Asia.
DAYDREAMS, founded in the Fall, aims to build an international network of communication and collaboration among young leaders who are engaged in Middle Eastern and North African issues, according to president Luke Decker '15.
The project, a national nonprofit organization, is run by nine Dartmouth students and one from the University of California, Berkeley.
Decker is a member of The Dartmouth staff.
"Our 2013 Delegates include a number of university valedictorians, Rhodes and Marshall Scholars and Ivy League students, but even beyond these impressive credentials, we share a deep conviction that all 50 delegates will become future leaders who will collectively shape the world in the coming years," Decker said.
Delegate invitations are open to college students and other young leaders who plan to develop projects that address topics related to the Middle East and North Africa. The delegates will be divided into 12 groups to collaborate on projects which include the Arab-Israeli conflict, education advancement, economic development, global security and the Arab Spring, among others.
The summit aims to aid delegates in fostering initiatives for their own communities and build a network of relationships, Decker said.
"It is my hope that DAYDREAMS will bring together youth activists from every Middle Eastern and North African country with other reform-minded students from the United States and Central and Southeast Asia to engage in constructive collaboration and discussion to improve and develop their plans whether they be about education, trash collection, corruption or human rights," recruitment and delegate relations director Logan Brog '15 said in an email. "This is the project's goal."
The summit itself aims to bring delegates together with their peers and professional mentors to accomplish mutual goals, according to Brog.
"By learning about other delegates' initiatives, best practices and engaging in thought-provoking discussions, delegates should leave with a strong network, inspiration on how to improve their plans and the resources to ensure their implementation and success," he said in the email.
The organization began with the intention of forging international connections, according to Decker.
"The nature of the people that we're bringing together is unbelievable, and I think the organization is going to plan to exist for many years after this," he said.
DAYDREAMS hopes to have the inaugural world summit at Dartmouth this year, and eventually at other U.S. campuses and locations abroad, Decker said.
In the coming years, the group could potentially hold summits in the Middle East.
The project became an official student organization during the last week of Fall term.
Because the organization is structured as a nonprofit with a national focus and does not fit into the student organization model of the Council on Student Organizations, it is no longer recognized as an official organization at the College, according to Decker.
Representatives from COSO declined to comment, but confirmed that DAYDREAMS lost COSO recognition.
DREAM, a mentoring organization founded by Dartmouth students in 1999, is also a nonprofit national organization that is not officially recognized by COSO. The program partners with the Tucker Foundation and is run by student mentors, according to program empowerment director Kate Piniewski.
Outside of the Tucker Foundation, the College does not have any official outreach programs specific to the Middle East and North African regions, according to Asian and Middle Eastern studies program chair Allen Hockley.
Dartmouth's Foreign Study Program in Morocco, however, includes a socially active learning program where students complete community service projects during their stay in the region.
