School of International Studies

OASIS

The Open Assembly of the School of International Studies (OASIS) was founded in 1988 by the first class of SIS students.  This active student government organization assists with numerous events, including the annual Gerber lecture that bring global leaders to campus, has an established mentoring program that pairs seniors with first year students, and has an Ambassadors program that takes SIS students into K-12 schools to talk about their study abroad experiences.

OASIS also does fund raising for numerous projects. One of the international projects OASIS supports is an orphanage in Kisumu, Kenya. SIS students visited this area in 2004 with Dean Ensign, and were struck by the needs of  children orphaned because their parents died of AIDS.  The orphanage, also supported by the NGO GlobalEyes,  currently has fourteen children. SIS students purchased the water tank for the building and sewing machines for widows who work at the orphanage.