Bard College Celebrates Arrival of Inaugural Cohort of Sponsored Refugee Students Through US Department of State’s Welcome Corps on Campus Program

Bard College welcomes two first-year students to its Annandale-on-Hudson campus as part of the inaugural cohort of sponsored refugee students in the US Department of State’s Welcome Corps on Campus program. The Welcome Corps announced the arrival of more than 30 refugee students enrolled at 17 colleges and universities across the United States representing the inaugural “class” of Welcome Corps on Campus. As the first-of-its-kind program empowering US higher education institutions to welcome refugee students through the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), the Welcome Corps on Campus enables colleges and universities to privately sponsor and resettle academically qualified refugee students who have not, until now, had a pathway through which they could resettle in the United States to pursue their higher education.

“Bard College is proud to be a part of the first Welcome Corps on Campus cohort of 17 colleges and universities across the United States who are sponsoring 33 students from the Dadaab refugee camp. The College is sponsoring two first-year students this year, and will welcome an additional two students from the Bard/OSUN Hubs for Connected Learning Initiative (Kenya) in the next academic year. Welcome Corps provides a pathway to permanent residency to refugee students and is one of the ways through which the College is meeting the UNHCR 15×30 Pledge,” said Dean of International Studies at Bard College Jen Murray. “The students will receive additional support from the Dean for Displaced Students Danna Harman and other members of the Bard private sponsor group.”  

“This back-to-school season, I’m grateful for the partnership of higher education institutions who are welcoming refugee students in the Welcome Corps on Campus’s first-ever cohort. Over USRAP’s 40-year history, we have seen time and again that refugees make tremendous social and economic contributions across the United States, including the kind of contributions that drive America’s competitiveness and innovation on the global stage. I’m confident this program will benefit not only the refugees arriving as students, but the campus communities generously welcoming them,” said Julieta Valls Noyes, assistant secretary of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration at the US Department of State.  

Campus communities have long been places of innovation and opportunity. The Welcome Corps on Campus builds on this legacy and makes it possible for America’s higher education institutions to bring campus leadership, students, staff, and faculty together in the shared act of welcome of refugee students seeking to further their educations. Refugee students will be supported by on-campus sponsor groups who will help students secure housing, enroll in classes, access social services, and integrate as new members of their campus communities. In return, American students and institutions will benefit from the enriching international perspectives offered by refugee students, peer-to-peer exchanges that support experiential learning, and a stronger sense of belonging to campus life and the surrounding community.

“The Welcome Corps on Campus has set in motion a transformative shift in how higher education institutions can build community on campus while also addressing the global refugee crisis. Students, faculty, staff, and institutional leaders across the country are embodying America’s longstanding tradition of providing refuge by offering these students this life-changing opportunity,” said Nele Feldmann, director of the Welcome Corps on Campus. 

Post Date: 08-21-2024