When 12 students from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) came to Ithaca in the summer of 2008, they were met by a welcoming committee of fellow Cornell students -- IthaQatar (IQ) Ambassadors -- who introduced them to campus, showed them around the area and began a dialogue aimed at bridging the distance between Ithaca and Doha.

This summer, the second generation of IQ Ambassadors took the vision of program founders Pankit Vachhani, WCMC-Q '12, Andrew Handel '08, Ryan Lavin '09, C.J. Slicklen '09, Elan Greenberg '08 and Adam Gay '08 -- and ran with it.

Like last year's group, this year's 19 Ithaca undergrads, two staff members and 24 Qatar students (10 second-year pre-meds doing research through the Hughes Scholars program and five taking regular summer courses, along with nine incoming first-year pre-meds in WCMC-Q's Foundations Program, who were enrolled in Cornell's Summer College) bonded on Cornell Outdoor Education's Hoffman Challenge Course, heard a chimes concert featuring Middle Eastern music atop McGraw tower and took weekend trips to New York City and Niagara Falls.

"Instead of making them feel like guests here, we did our best to make them feel like they belong here," said IQ co-director Jonathan Soh '10.

But for IQ co-director Maen Abou Ziki, WCMC-Q '13, events coordinator Allen Miller '11 and Soh, the focus was also on creating opportunities for the classes that will follow.

Key goals include identifying a continuous funding source for the program (last year's IQ activities were funded by the Office of the Dean of Students in Ithaca; this year's by the Office of Student Affairs at WCMC-Q), holding regular interactive events like cross-campus discussions via video link and bringing some key Cornell traditions to Doha.

The group is also exploring the possibility of an intercampus exchange program during the academic year.

"A good number of WCMC-Q faculty were originally based here in Ithaca, and most of the TAs are Cornell graduates; so if we can exchange faculty, why not exchange students?" said Abou Ziki.

The proposal is getting positive response from administration officials, said Soh.

"Qatar is still a Cornell campus, so it would be a relatively seamless transition between credits," he said.

"Whether we're from Qatar or from Ithaca, we're all Cornell students, and that's pretty powerful," added Miller. "So I think there's definitely a need for this -- and I think it's definitely feasible."

Boosting IQ's visibility is also a priority. To that end, the group hosted a dinner event for students, faculty and administrators July 14 featuring talks by David Robertshaw, professor emeritus of biomedical sciences and former associate dean of WCMC-Q's premedical program; and James Maas, professor of psychology, whose famously popular Psych 101 course is video streamed to students in Doha.

Meanwhile, students from both campuses contributed their own particular talents to the cause throughout the summer.

Some helped design the IQ logo; others took charge of organizing events or building the group's Web site. Film studies majors Ben Preston '11 and Stephen Guilbert '10 picked up their cameras and began filming a documentary about the group.

"We're working to accomplish something, and it looks very positive right now -- and I think that gave us all a lot of confidence, that we're able to pull something together as a group, and create something that's bigger than our group, too," said Soh.

On Aug. 3, just a few days before the WCMC-Q students headed back to Doha, the group gathered on Libe Slope for a final sunset get-together.

"It's been really amazing," said Dana Anchassi, WCMC-Q '13. "I didn't expect Ithaca to be such a small town ... it's so gorgeous, so green. Everyone is so welcoming. I love that feel."

"I enjoyed my research here; my mentor is very good and the grad students I work with in the lab are very dynamic ... it was a nice experience from all sides," said Abou Ziki. "I was also impressed by how the [IQ] program went. It was a big success."

"I never felt such a strong sense of teamwork and camaraderie," added Soh. "It was all positive. And it gave us a tremendous start toward our plans for the coming school year."