Students and faculty are reaching out to the campus community for support in bringing an Iraqi student to Union College as a part of the Class of 2012.
“Due to the American-led war in Iraq and continuing violence, students there are without teachers, without books and computers, without university structures. And years are going by,” said Naazia Husain ’08, one of the project’s leaders.
More than 2 million Iraqis have taken refuge in Syria and Jordan since the beginning of the war. Most live under difficult circumstances and are often unable to avail themselves of higher education opportunities in these countries, Husain said. Only a few succeed in being resettled elsewhere.
Union’s student-led, faculty-supported group is part of the Iraqi Student Project (ISP) (http://www.iraqistudentproject.org/), based at Villanova University, that is working to bring some 40 talented Iraqi students to American campuses before year’s end.
As an ISP member institution, Union will provide financial aid for a qualified Iraqi student to begin her or his studies here in the fall. In general, the participating colleges provide tuition, room and board, while volunteers seek donations for air fares, books, course materials, medical insurance and miscellaneous expenses.
“Right now we are asking members of the campus community for a tax-exempt donation to help defray the student’s costs and make sure the student feels comfortable when he or she arrives here,” said Darcia Datshkovsky ’10, president of the International Students Club. “We plan to expand this fund-raising campaign to the larger community of the Capital Region shortly.”
To date, the Union committee has collected nearly $5,000 in a limited fund-raising effort. It hopes to raise $10,000 by fall.
“This grassroots initiative is entirely in keeping with our strategic plan. It is supported by President Ainlay and the Admissions Office and is aimed at making a more diverse, open-minded community,” Husain said. “We’ll be scheduling talks to further awareness of what’s going on in Iraq and of Iraqi culture in general. We’re hoping it stays non-political. There’s a lot of genuine interest in making this happen.”
"We're delighted to be working with the Iraqi Student Project," said Interim Vice President fror Admissions Ann Fleming Brown. "It's great outreach and activism on the part of our campus community. We're excited to welcome a student next fall."
In addition to Husain and Datshkovsky, coordinators include Naina Bhushan ’11 and Professors Andrew Feffer (History and Film Studies), Daniel Mosquera (Modern Languages and Literatures) and Eshragh Motahar (Economics). Tayyab Shaikh ’11 is developing a Web site, which can be accessed at: http://www.vu.union.edu/~isp/
For more information about this effort or how to contribute, contact Feffer at feffera@union.edu; 388-6787