SIGN-ON OPPORTUNITY: STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS AND SCHOLARS FLEEING FROM VIOLENCE AND HUMANITARIAN CRISES

Sign-On Opportunity for Institutional and Organizational Leaders

The war in Ukraine and the resulting humanitarian crisis have accelerated a call to action by colleges and universities to support refugees and displaced students worldwide. We strongly condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The war has not only caused thousands of civilian deaths and forced millions of Ukrainians to flee, but also has led thousands of Russians to seek safety from their repressive regime, including those in academia. While the tragedy is acute in Ukraine, unfortunately it is not unique to that country. Students, academics, and their families from numerous countries throughout the world continue to seek refuge and relief while international students and scholars attending U.S. universities and colleges struggle to make ends meet and keep up their studies while their home countries are in turmoil. We express solidarity with all of these impacted students and scholars currently on our campuses and stand eager to welcome scholars and enroll additional students seeking education and safety.

We support our nation doing more to relieve the plight of those impacted by events beyond their control. We applaud the administration for implementing policies that ensure that students and scholars from impacted countries are provided key lifesaving and educational protections. We urge the administration to advance policies that are inclusive, equitable, and durable:

• Make visas available to displaced international students and scholars who qualify to come here, and ensure regulatory processes support them during their stay here.

• Move quickly to launch broader scale private sponsorship of refugees, including university sponsorship of refugee students, by using the new P-4 category in refugee admissions.

These measures are an opportunity for the United States to stand by its values and will significantly expand the United States’ humanitarian reach by enabling U.S. colleges and universities to play a key role in accelerating displaced and refugee students’ higher education access and success. We in higher education stand ready to meet this moment to address the urgent challenges facing fleeing and displaced students and scholars.