At UO, we believe that education offers a life-changing pathway to career success and lifelong flourishing. As a public university committed to public service, we have created a new scholarship to support international students displaced by humanitarian crisis, natural disasters or conflict in their societies or origin. We are especially interested in helping students whose college pursuits have been interrupted by such conditions and who have expressed a desire and intent to use their education at UO to improve conditions in their countries or regions of origin.
We are organizing this new scholarship program as a special sub-award under our flagship International Cultural Service Program (ICSP) scholarship. ICSP connects international students to the local community in and around UO via educational student presentations about their home cultures.
The special ICSP-Crisis Response scholarship will involve similar community presentations, but to audiences and on topics tailored to the particular background of each awardee, with distinct faculty and staff support. Based on shared academic interests and region of origin, each recipient will be paired with a faculty mentor and an advanced student mentor.
Applications will be reviewed by a faculty and staff committee that includes experts in crisis response and advising.
Review will take into account the nature of the crisis and the potential for the applicant to contribute after graduation to rebuilding, resolution, reconciliation, restoration or other remedies in their home society. Given conditions facing applicants, these awards may be funded and structured differently than standard ICSP scholarships. Awards are funding-contingent, and we expect an average of 1-2 awards per year.