"We started from a desk, a chair and
six books. We have come a long way," writes Provost Camilla Sharshekeeva one of the
founders of American University in Kyrgyzstan (AUK). Founded in 1993 as the
Kyrgyz-American Faculty at Kyrgyz State National University with forty students enrolled
in two majors, AUK now is an independent educational institution with 700 students and
eleven majors.

The mission of the university is education combining both innovative American and
European higher education techniques and traditional core knowledge of Post-Soviet
education to greatly contribute to building open society in Kyrgyzstan. Such disciplines
as Journalism, Business Administration, Law and International Relations encourage students
to participate actively inside and outside the classroom. The university finances numerous
student clubs such as "Students In Free Enterprise" (SIFE), "Kyrgyzstan To
All Needs" and "Amnesty International" that conduct various community
projects including drug education, fundraising for orphanages, human rights protection and
picketing of President Askar Akayev’s residence, the White House, for social change.

AUK offers a variety of programs allowing students to combine majors according to their
interests. Professors and professionals of various sciences in the Civic Education
Project, employ innovative teaching methods developed in the newly established
"Critical Thinking" laboratory. Academic honesty and ethical behavior are the
university’s unbreakable principles. Students who are accustomed to cheating in high
school stop doing so as the ethical spirit of AUK affects their lives. Students and
faculty are allowed to participate in university affairs through student and teacher
senates. It is possible for students to change courses because of dissatisfaction with a
teacher and for teachers to drop students from a course if he or she does not attend
classes or breaks university rules.

Students run a campus newspaper, organize campaigns to support democratic principles,
and apply to various programs and conferences. The main library and computer labs are open
until ten at night. On weekends, a special bus shuttles home students who study until late
at night. International faculty and students contribute to intercultural understanding.
The flags of Turkey, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Iran, Canada, Poland, India, China, Russia,
Korea and Pakistan hang in the main hall of AUK showing the countries of students
currently in attendance, the nations AUK alumni will affect through its encouragement and
development of leadership and citizen participation. American University in Kyrgyzstan is
a 21st century institution. It’s alumni now work in various democracy-building
organizations in Kyrgyzstan and continue their education in the USA and Europe in order to
return and contribute to the betterment of Kyrgyzstan.

Anna Kirey is a Journalism student at American University of Kyrgyzstan.