Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy left with a group from the school today (Thursday) on a trip to Uganda. I-S-U spokesman Brian Meyer says the group is visiting Uganda as part of a program to help rural areas. He says there was an agricultural community picked in rural Uganda that the university has been working with on community and farm issues.

Meyer says this program that reaches outside the U.S. was established in 2003. Meyer says they look at this as a way to extend what the university has been doing for 150 years in Iowa to other parts of the work.

Meyer says the I-S-U group has a very busy schedule. He says the group will get into Africa Friday and stay for eight days. Meyer says they’ll visit several communities, including the community targeted by the program, and will also visit with several dignitaries and officials from other universities.

Meyer says some of the I-S-U officials flying out today had to make some changes in their schedule to get around the back ups created by the terrorism warnings.