Submitted on behalf of Bonnie Prunty, Dean of Students
Dear Ithaca College Community,
I share this message with you today to update our community on Ithaca College's participation in a Cornell University initiative to support student refugees from Afghanistan. As you may be aware, since the final withdrawal of U.S. military troops from Afghanistan in August, an unprecedented humanitarian crisis has unfolded in that country.
In partnership with the Asian University of Women, in Bangladesh, Cornell University’s Global Cornell and the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies has coordinated an effort to welcome a group of nine Afghan women to continue their undergraduate studies. These students will be hosted as interns in various Cornell programs for the remainder of the 2021-22 academic year, providing them an opportunity to continue their academic pursuits.
To support the Ithaca community coming together for a worthy cause, Ithaca College will be providing on-campus housing and dining support for these students for the remainder of the Fall 2021 semester, upon which time Cornell will have completed preparations for housing accommodations of their own. During their temporary residency at IC, they will be treated the same as any active Ithaca student, which includes required completion of the Daily Health Screening and maintaining a “Green” IC Health Badge in order to access on-campus facilities. The first four members of this group of students arrived on IC’s campus on Monday, November 29.
These brave women have undertaken a harrowing journey amidst extraordinary circumstances, forced to leave much of their former lives as well as families and loved ones behind, in order to arrive here. Please join me in extending our warmest welcome to these new Ithacans and help make their stay on our beautiful South Hill campus is an enjoyable one. I encourage members of our campus community to check out this recently published story in the Cornell Chronicle sharing a unique perspective of these student’s journey to arrive in Ithaca.
I would also like to acknowledge the numerous members of our support staff at Ithaca College who have undertaken great efforts to prepare for the arrival of these students and ensuring that their time with us is a positive experience. I would like to extend special thanks to: Ithaca College’s Dining Services, Office of Residential Life, Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management, Information Security and Access Management, General Counsel, Conference and Events Services, International Student and Scholar Services, Auxiliary Services, and many others. I also want to thank our friends at Cornell who have been amazing to work with throughout the preparations for this initiative.
Warmest regards,
Bonnie Prunty
Dean of Students