History

The origins of the Denver International Program (DIP) go back to the World War II era. A distinguished German lawyer, Henry Ollendorf, fled Germany in the face of the Nazi advance across Europe. When Dr. Ollendorf fled, he vowed never to return to Germany. He settled in Cleveland, Ohio, and became director of a group of settlement houses. In 1954 the U.S. State Department prevailed on him to help lead the restoration of voluntary social participation in Germany. At first, he resisted the request. Later he decided to take part in such an effort as a major personal contribution to assure the realization of the vow of all reasonable people, “Never Again.” Dr. Ollendorf realized that an entire generation of young people had been deprived of the experience of social interactions based on democratic ideals of the kind that Americans know through YWCAs, YMCAs, Jewish Community Centers. Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, settlement houses, Girls and Boys Clubs, 4H, and so forth.

Dr. Ollendorf did return to Germany and with the assistance of the US Department of State, began to recruit social workers and youth leaders to come to the United States to see how democratic ideals are spread in this country. The first “participants” arrived in the United States in the spring of 1956. Participants are not called students because they have completed the necessary level of education in their countries for the jobs they hold and are professionals in their fields.

The original participants went to Cleveland, Ohio, where Dr. Ollendorf was. Their activities included an orientation to American Society at the Schoo1 of Applied Social Sciences at Western Reserve University, followed by a period of work in local voluntary social agencies. At the end of their work placement program, they convened in Washington, D.C., prior to their return to Germany. This pattern prevailed for several years, with the addition of an initial gathering at the United Nations in New York City. As the number of participants grew, the orientation continued in Cleveland but the work experience was spread out among other cities: Columbus, Ohio; Philadelphia; and Chicago.

In the mid-1960s, the entire program was decentralized to other cities around the country and new affiliates were established. The countries from which participants came were expanded, as well: first, to all of non-Communist Europe and, gradually, to other parts of the world. Some of the affiliates were based within university schools of social work; some were freestanding community organizations.

The affiliates were organized into the Council of International Program Social Workers and Youth Leaders (CIP). The headquarters was located first in Cleveland, Ohio, and later in Washington, DC. Although the structure of CIP has changed many times over the years and the number of affiliates rises and falls, (at one point in the early 1980s numbering 15 or 16), the basic purpose of training and cultural exchange continues.

A profoundly important aspect of CIP is its impact on the world: several German representatives to the United Nations are former participants and, at the Camp David talks during the presidency of Jimmy Carter, members of delegations on both sides were former participants. Participants, across the years and in all the affiliates, have returned to their home countries to take up positions in their national governments: in Ministries of Social Welfare, Ministries of Education, Ministries of Health, Ministries of Youth and Sport, and in parliaments and embassies. Denver is proud that some of its former participants are among these individuals.

Although tentative conversations had occurred through the years between Denver and the Council of International Programs, nothing concrete occurred until the late 1970s. In the spring of 1978, the convergence of several factors led to serious movement toward establishment of a Denver affiliate at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW). Those factors included: the presence of an MSW student who was a former CIP participant from Italy, a new GSSW dean who was familiar with the program at the University of Pennsylvania, and the familiarity of other GSSW faculty members with the programs in Pennsylvania and Iowa. Discussions during the spring of 1978 among Dean Laverne McCummings, Professors Sue Henry and Brian Klepinger, and Miriam Turri, the MSW student, led to a decision to proceed with attempts to establish the Denver International Program. The new Denver International Program became a university affiliate with the Council of International Programs in 1979.

Dr. Sue Henry and Dr. Brian Klepinger were co-program directors. Miriam Turri was assigned to the program for her second year student field placement in Community Services and Social Planning. Recruitment of internship experience agencies was aided by the Field Department at GSSW. Host families, who would provide hospitality appointed to participants for five weeks, were recruited through Ms. Turri’ s appearances on radio and television, at neighborhood associations, and at GSSW constituent events. In January 1979, Drs. Henry and Klepinger went to Cleveland for the selection of the first Denver International Program participants. Ten were selected. Field supervisors were trained. Host families were oriented. Welcome receptions were planned, and a schedule for participant orientation to Denver and to American Society was organized.

The ten participants arrived at the United Nations the end of April 1979. That first group consisted of Nora from the West Bank; Heidi from the Philippines; Girija from India; Yolanda from Hong Kong; Tomy from Germany; Josta from Suriname; Henry from Zambia; Jacob from Israel; Nund, from Mauritius; and Ove from Sweden. The program was off and running!

Miriam Turri was appointed Program Director, effective 1, June 1980. Her job title was Program Director rather than Executive Director, because the University had no provision for an executive director position classification. Ms. Turri remained in that position through August 1982. Dr. Standley Gellineau was then appointed to be director, a position he held until 1985.

In succeeding years, the number of participants and agencies grew until at one point, there were as many as twenty Denver participants. That proved to be quite a stretch for resources and for sheer logistics management. Twelve to fifteen turned out to be the best group size.

Funding for the program came through fees paid by the work experience agencies, GSSW support, the United States Department of State, various other governments, and the German Marshall Plan. Early in the Denver program, a community advisory group was created to lend support, including the important assistance of Marion Gottesfeld, recently deceased Denver community leader.

A DIP program occurred each year from 1979 through 1988, except 1986 when, due to financial problems at the University of Denver, financial support for the director’s salary was lost.

The university told members of DIP that it could no longer provide funds to sponsor the program or continue the responsibility of being the governing body for the program. A program occurred in 1987 and 1988 with the help of Miriam Turri as a volunteer. Leaders in DIP were encouraged to form a nonprofit corporation and a board of directors and operate the program themselves. On April 5, 1988, incorporation papers were filed with the Colorado Secretary of State. The incorporators were: Edwin L. Felter, Jr.,Esq.; Louis M. Quirk, Esq.; G. Kristin Crosby, M.D.; and a Certificate of Incorporation was issued by the Secretary of State.

The new Board of Directors communicated with the Council of International Programs (CIP) asking to sponsor and operate a program. CIP was cautious in accepting this new unsponsored organization as the governing body and operator of the program. The members of the board made all arrangements for the internship placements and the host family placements. Provisionally DIP was accepted with the selection of Patrick Hu as the program Director for 1990 and a summer program was carried out. Mr. Hu volunteered his time as director of the program.

In 1991 new members of the Board of Directors were appointed. Betsy Kester and Sue Henry were co-directors. Margie Beal was responsible for the host family program. The Board of Directors decided that the term of office of a board member should be three years, to encourage new persons for board membership.

The last year of a “traditional” program for CIP was 1991. After 1991 all Federal monies for long-term adult exchange programs ceased. This was a huge change for CIP and affected all its affiliates. CIP staff could no longer travel abroad to recruit applicants. Most of the staff quit and the program as it had operated ceased.

This was a very uncertain period for DIP. During 1992 -1994, participants were recruited from Central European countries and funded by the George Soros Foundation, which was committed to train leaders in Central Europe about democracy and the operation of nonprofit agencies. The Soros Foundation paid participants’ transportation, stipends, and program fees to the Denver International Program. These participants came with a great interest in public administration and less emphasis on social work. The New York City arrival orientation program and the Washington, D.C., farewell program were dropped.

Emphasis shifted to training in an internship, rather than working in an agency; to furthering education by attending a university class; and to cultural exchange through the home-stay and internship experiences.

It was in these two years that DIP began to have two four-month programs, one in the spring and one in the fall. Such a schedule facilitated more choice of time for the applicants, and non-Soros funded applicants could be included when they were available. Two smaller groups together equaled the number of participants of earlier larger groups. In 1994, while Hap Pitkin was director, a total of 17 participants were divided into two groups of ten and seven. This pattern has continued to the present.

By the 1995 program, the Soros Foundation ceased its support. CIP was reorganized with a new name, Council of International Programs USA (CIPUSA). Locally, participation dropped to a few folks who could pay their own transport or find a benefactor at home. The largest expense is transportation. Frequently no funds are left to pay the DIP program fee. So DIP began looking for business associates to provide ongoing support; joined Community Shares, a fund raising organization for non-profit agencies; and looked to its volunteers for additional financial support.

The University of Indiana obtained a grant for training of South Africans and later southern Africans. Participants came for two months from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Mozambique. The University of Indiana managed the grant program. Applicants were selected by the University and then came to affiliate CIPUSA agencies including DIP. This grant continued through 2000.

A monthly series of Friday evening programs, called Fireside Evenings, began in 1998. At Fireside Evenings, each participant presents information about his/her country and prepares and serves foods from that country. This program has become quite popular and includes attendees from the Denver community, the internship agencies, the University of Denver, and the DIP membership. It has been a successful addition to the cultural exchange experience for all concerned.

After the 9/11/01 attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, the 2002 group of participants dropped to four people. DIP needed to rebuild its programs and find new sources of funds. Several short-term programs were tried, including a one-week seminar for Mexican administrators of community foundations in 2002 and 2003.

By 2003, DIP was once again growing. The addition of new programs was a major factor. In 2003, nine participants came from Germany, Ghana, Russia and Thailand, plus one participant for a special two-week Egyptian women’s leadership program. In 2004, there were 11 participants from seven different countries, including three 18-month participants. During that time, DIP formed a collaboration with Water for People (WFP), a locally based nonprofit that assists developing countries with water issues. On behalf of WFP, DIP administered a water and sanitation training program for water professionals in the spring of 2004 and will do so again in the spring of 2005. This program is funded through a John H. Ware, Jr., Fellowship grant obtained by WFP. Additional collaborative efforts with other community agencies are planned for the future.

The Denver International Program is proud to have continued the heritage of the founders of this adult program of training, education and cultural exchange. Since the beginning it has had over 300 participants in Denver. There have been at least two marriages between participants and Coloradoans, and some participants have returned to attend the University of Denver. Participants have been full of praise for the Denver experience.

The Denver International Program provides much value to the participants, the home-stay hosts, the Denver community and the home countries of the participants. DIP is profoundly grateful to the University of Denver, its Graduate School of Social Work and its Graduate School of International Studies, as well as other departments that have hosted DIP participants in their classes. The University of Denver continues to assist DIP with space for offices, classes, meetings and gatherings. DIP is also very grateful to RTD for donating monthly bus passes for participants’ transportation in Denver.

Directors since 1990: