BAGHDAD — The Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) is calling on Iraqi university students, specifically those in medicine and engineering, to sign up for logistics tasks in Iraq and Syria. But some academics believe there is a larger agenda at hand.

The PMU, a state-sponsored umbrella group for dozens of militias, organizes regular public programs at Iraqi universities to raise money. For example, the University of Baghdad on Oct. 29 held a festival to support the PMU with the slogan “Our Units Win.” Several leaders and security officials of various PMU factions attended, and some made ardent statements that excited the students.

The University of Baghdad hosts more PMU factions’ activities than any other university in the capital, usually two or three activities a week, thanks to its expansive halls and large student body. Another plus is that faculty deans give their approval to such activities, even if sometimes reluctantly.

Hashem Hassan, the school's dean of journalism, said the large, young audiences the PMU gathers at universities boosts PMU members' morale and gives the group a national identity. The schools provide a significant platform from which the PMU can rally students and spread its influence. Hassan told Al-Monitor that universities, as the cradles of science and the cultural hubs of society, offer the PMU a way to gauge a generation's priorities and develop national action plans accordingly.