UNBC, Student Society Step up to Support Syrian Refugees
Prince George, B.C. – The University of Northern British Columbia and the Northern Undergraduate Student Society (NUGSS) have teamed up to offer full sponsorship for five Syrian refugees.
The initiative will be run through the World University Service of Canada’s (WUSC) Student Refugee Program that NUGSS has been involved with for 10 years.
UNBC president Dr. Daniel Weeks – photo 250 News
This program, which UNBC students contribute to through a small fee to NUGSS, pays to sponsor a new refugee each year.
On top of this, UNBC announced Monday it will contribute $180,000 to sponsor four Syrian refugee students through this program.
President Dr. Daniel Weeks said the funding was made possible through the generosity of UNBC donors who have contributed to a special fund – the Area of Greatest Need (AGN).
“As you all know over the past couple of weeks the ongoing conflict in Syria has caused millions of people to flee from their homes,” he said. “And as a northern university for the north but globally minded, we consider it very important that we devise a northern strategy to help with this crisis.”
The contribution had the enthusiastic support of NUGSS president Duncan Malkinson.
“I’m ecstatic about it. We’ve been speaking with university administration over the last couple of weeks to hopefully get the resources in place to make this happen and we’re so thrilled.”
Prince George Mayor Lyn Hall was also on hand to both congratulate the university and offer its support.
“The City is prepared to help in any way we can and partner with UNBC. This project is a necessity,” he said.
“We recently had a resolution go to UBCM around the Syrian refugee crisis and also one from Whistler so there’s support even on an provincial level to take a look at what we can do during this devastating time.”
Comments
Syrian refugees, or illegal migrants flowing through Syria? Why not help our own Syrians at home, the natives? They live 10x worse than the iphone carrying Syrians.
I totally agree with the above.. Here our students having difficult time getting in and the university is trucking the imigrants by te busload and giving free education. Nice to help them financially to become indepentant where they live… but give free tuition, when our students could barely afford it.
Clean up our back yard before letting in forgieners
Interesting, $ 180,000.00. Where were you when I paid for my sons university education.I agree with you Leroy.
I totally agree with the above as well. Too many young people in our own area can’t afford an education . Got to look good in the eyes of the bleeding hearts I guess !!
Notwithstanding any amount of support or money OR scholarships, the fact is that every refugee seeker MUST go thru the mandatory screening process and be approved as a legitimate refugee….
Thats the way it is and I support that 150%
Our government is doing its job making the security of Canada its number one priority, and I give them three cheers for that.
It just boggles the mind. Canadians in need everywhere, local people that could really use that money for education, food… you name it. How do you determine which ‘Syrian’ gets the money? It is estimated that 50% of the refugees aren’t from Syria, but from countries not involved in any civil war. They are all taking advantage of the open borders, and welfare, handed out by the EU right now. There are no passports, just people running over while there are zero checks in place.
So now that Germany has taken in most of the skilled labor, and France/Britain are left fighting for the remaining talent, the rest are nothing but a drain on the system.
HELP CANADIANS, NOT SYRIANS. UNBC could be handing out scholarships to local kids that could never afford it. Why on earth are you people so moved by the news, it’s just one political agenda after another. You will not hear anything about this crisis in another 2 weeks, the news will move on to the next great big story that you are supposed to cry over.
For many graduates, university is a dream as they cannot afford the cost and neither can their parents… let’s start at home first!
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