Bailey Young, professor of archeology, and Herbert Lasky, retired dean of the Honors College, organized an American committee, Friends of the Walloon Heritage, to help the Heritage Institute of Wallonia (IPW) raise funds to preserve the Walhain Castle in Belgium.

Since 1998, Young has made it possible for college students at different universities, including Eastern, to take part in the Summer Archaeology in Belgium Program in July.

Young said IPW always welcome the students with open arms and accepts the summer archaeology program every year.

“We have been helping them do research about the castle and helping them preserve it from 1998,” he said. “There was nobody doing this before.”

Students take part in research projects while excavating on the site of Walhain Castle by searching for coins, and pottery pieces in partnerships with the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve.

Due to the IPW lack in funds to own the Walhain Castle, American students donated money to the King Baudouin Foundation the Belgium government has set up.

Young said the president of IPW, M. Freddy Joris said he found it easier to get budget approvals from the government in Belgium for the Walhain Castle.

“It was because they saw the Americans were interested in this,” he said. “It gave motivation to help preserve the castle so others can visit.”

Chris Bailey, a graduate student from Cornell College, took a trip with the program in 2000.

Bailey said the experience was great.

“It was my first time participating in an excavation in Europe,” he said.

Bailey said there is something special when it comes to searching for items through the dirt.

“There’s that romance of archeology and digging through the dirt for things that haven’t seen the light of day in 300 or 400 years,” he said.

“We always like to look and find coins. A lot of times they have dates and years.”

Young said the program usually take in 10 to 12 students from different universities such as Eastern, the University of Maryland, Indiana State University and other universities from the South.

“We have had many good students in the last 10 years,” he said. “There is a real interest and enthusiasm.”

Young said the reason Lasky and he created the summer archeology program was to provide an opportunity for students to enjoy through study.

“We wanted to provide a special hands-on opportunity to learn about archeology and for honor students and other qualified students,” he said.

Students are also able to gain credit hours through the summer archeology program. Young said there have been students from various majors besides archeology and history who have participated in the program.

“The program is open to all students,” he said. “We have had nursing majors. majors in French for those who want to study the language.”

Young said students are able to visit Paris and Amsterdam and make friends with European students.

“When they write their evaluation, they all say what a great opportunity it is living and working there,” he said.

Young said if there are any students who are interested in this wonderful opportunity, they should contact him right away.

“This is a wonderful opportunity not only to learn about history but to learn about living in another country,” he said.

Jessica Leggin can be reached at 581-7942 or at jmleggin@eiu.edu.