Syracuse is home to roughly 14,000 refugees, a number similar to that of Syracuse University’s undergraduate student body, and steps need to be taken to help this population.

This movement is not unique to SU. The push to provide accessible education to refugees around the globe is gaining traction with the launch of Kiron University later this month. The online university has partnered with more than 20 universities, including Harvard, Stanford and Yale, to offer a free, three-year program that will grant refugee students an internationally accredited degree, according to Reuters.

In Syracuse, refugees come from all over the world, including Bhutan, Burma, Iraq, Somalia and Vietnam, according to Syracuse University News. Refugees make up approximately 10 percent of the city’s total population and, based on current trends, the city receives between 1,100 and 1,200 refugees each year, according to Syracuse.com.

There must be increased joint efforts between the SU administration and the student body in continuing to support programs that aid local refugees.

Programs like the Special Refugee scholarship, a full-year tuition award administered by the Office of Admissions with CenterState CEO, and the Syracuse University Program for Refugee Assistance (SUPRA), a registered graduate student organization that provides English classes to refugees in the local community, already exist. But these resources need to be taken a step further, first by raising awareness about the refugee population in Syracuse among the student body.

After students are made more aware of the refugee situation in Syracuse, they can be encouraged to get involved. This involvement could come in the form of a student group that would help refugees with filling out applications to local academic institutions.

Some members of The Daily Orange Editorial Board do not feel that even SU’s support of these programs is enough, and see a push to provide accessible education to refugees as a suitable measure. Others disagree, citing SU as a private institution with an obligation to its own students first. Regardless of these differences, it is agreed that the SU student body is generally uninformed of the refugee situation in the city, and that unawareness must be overcome first.

In working to address this lack of awareness on campus, SU students and the administration must collaborate to ensure that refugee outreach programs continue to receive the support they need.

Published on October 8, 2015 at 12:53 am

Contact: opinion@dailyorange.com