By Lily Abromeit

The International Buddies Program through the Tippie College of Business is now in it’s fourth semester and with over 200 students in the program, officials are expectant of changes it could bring.

The program brings international and domestic students together to learn from and about each other.

Students in the program said it gives them a unique opportunity to get to know different cultures and to understand their peers on a different level.

“China and the United States are competing all the time,” UI student Jintoa He said. “The two countries are competing but the citizens should not.”

Associate Dean Ken Brown said these individual connections and relationships are what could change tension across seas.

“Relationships between the people and the exchanges that go on across all levels of society will mean that these sort of diplomatic tensions will subside and eventually go away,” he said.

Assistant Director Jennifer Blair also said these types of connections can be valuable.

“Any experience that gets you to understand another person on a human level, just on an individual level, changes your perspective about that culture forever,” Blair said.

Daily Iowan TV’s Brent Griffiths has the full story.