Published May 26, 2022
Rutgers is intensifying its efforts to welcome scholars and students from Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover
In the dog days of August 2021, as Fatima Farid watched the last remaining American plane leave Afghanistan, she gave up hope that her family would ever flee the Taliban. She described her fear and desperation to Rutgers Today.
“We were at the airport. It was 6 a.m. and we weren’t on that plane,” says Fatima Farid. She believed her mother, a human rights activist, would be killed after the United States pulled its troops from the country, and that she and her sisters would be forced into hiding. “We thought we would never be safe.”
Today, after a fraught journey that claimed her father’s life, Farid, 25, her mother, Shahla, 62, and two sisters, Zainab, 22, and Mahboba, 17, are living in Middlesex County and starting new lives. They are among a small group of students and scholars who have come to Rutgers after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
“A lot of people are helping us, supporting us, and making sure we have what we need,” Fatima Farid says. “It makes us happy, but we feel guilty. My mom cries when she sees news from Afghanistan. So many years she worked as an advocate for women, and her work was destroyed in one day.”
While there’s nothing new about the U.S. offering safe harbor to foreign refugees facing danger from political upheaval in their native lands, Rutgers is taking that promise one step further by providing students and scholars who have been studying in Afghanistan with new academic homes in the United States.
For instance, Farid family matriarch Shahla, a lawyer and human rights advocate, works at the Center for Women’s Global Leadership collaborating with feminist scholars, lawyers, and activists from around the world to enhance work on peace beyond the absence of war. Fatima is pursuing her master’s degree at the School of Social Work and Zainab is an undergraduate in the School of Arts and Sciences, both at Rutgers University–New Brunswick.
The Afghan situation is life or possible death for tens of thousands of people. Beyond fearing for their lives, Afghan university students face starting their academic careers in an environment that can disrupt their studies without warning. Girls and women face additional challenges. Currently, there is no schooling available to girls and women, and women are only permitted to leave their homes when covered head to toe and accompanied by a male companion.
“Think back on your academic career, challenges you faced, moments of confusion you may have felt, the experience of discovering independence,” says Eric Garfunkel, head of Rutgers Global, which oversees global education and engagement at Rutgers and provided financial support to Shahla Farid. “Now imagine navigating that time after having hidden for months, only escaping after multiple, dangerous attempts. Imagine navigating an academic journey that means something profound to your future and your family’s future with no resources, no home, and after having lost friends and loved ones. These students have suffered enormously, and we are eager to connect them with resources, funding, and other services that allow them to continue their education.”
Saving scholars
Through a new initiative, Rutgers Global and the Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund, which provides fellowships and support for scholars whose lives and work are threatened in their home countries, are partnering with Rutgers University Foundation to secure philanthropic funds to enable at least ten refugee students who have been studying in Afghanistan to study at Rutgers and earn their degrees.
“I think we should want them here because these are bright, talented, hard-working kids,” says Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), who is working with international human rights organizations and foundations to help evacuate and support women’s rights advocates, human rights leaders, journalists, students and faculty. “They will either go back to a better Afghanistan or become better Americans in our country. Either way, it’s a win.”
This fall, Rutgers is committed to waiving tuition for the refugee students in various stages of their college journey and helping to provide essentials such as housing, meal plans, mental health counseling, transportation, and textbooks. In round numbers, the goal is to secure enough private dollars to provide an average of $20,000 for at least ten students each year for 2.5 years, for a $500,000 total fundraising effort.
“This is an evolving story. We have been supporting scholars and students who had been at serious risk—including receiving death threats—to leave Afghanistan and move forward in their academic careers and lives,” Garfunkel says. “Rutgers is committed to finding talented students everywhere. Talent is not limited by borders, and every student committed to pursuing higher learning deserves a chance to excel.”
A fraught journey
Though talent has no borders, nations do. For many students in Afghanistan, the situation is dire.
“Last summer, I was informed by an Amnesty International human rights defender that Shahla Farid’s life was at risk, as were the lives of her three daughters who were still living at home,” says Krishanti Dharmaraj, executive director of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers. “The Taliban connected with Shahla and warned her that she needed to work with them. That’s when the family knew they had to get out of Kabul.”
Dharmaraj followed Shahla Farid’s career as a well-known human rights advocate who served on the High Peace Council in Afghanistan, taught law in Kabul, and had written papers and advocated for women. Originally from Sri Lanka—a country that shares a history of domestic upheaval that created waves of refugees—Dharmaraj knew the dangerous situation the family was in.
It took five months for the four women to complete the 7,000-mile trip from Afghanistan to Rutgers, during which they had to hide out with relatives and friends in safe houses or stay in hotels because they didn’t want to put other lives in danger. “We were happy that we were safe when we got out,” says Fatima Farid. “We had hope of a new life. We had letters to study in a new university, and my mother had a job.”
But tragically, their 69-year-old father, Mohammad, died in a temporary refugee shelter in Albania only a couple of days after the family escaped Afghanistan. He left behind seven daughters total—with all but one leaving Afghanistan. Each daughter knew they made the right decision because their father wanted a better future for his family. “He was always telling us to ‘go study and make my name,’” says Fatima Farid. “‘If I don’t have sons—my daughters will keep my name alive.’”
Ousseina Alidou, faculty director at the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, said she hopes the story the Farid women are sharing and the stories of other students and scholars coming from Afghanistan to Rutgers, will help people understand what is happening to threatened and displaced scholars around the world.
“We need to look at this as a teaching opportunity for the United States and all of us as global citizens,” says Alidou. “What happens in Afghanistan are repeat experiences in other parts of the world, which as citizens we need to know to understand the global impact.”
Learn more about how to partner with Rutgers on this important effort at global.rutgers.edu/refugees-migrants. To support this effort, click here.
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Rutgers in the News: Pandemic Burnout, Political Chaos, and Polling Insights
Whether it is voting, dining out, or just the...
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Rutgers Awarded $5 Million Grant from NIH to Improve Access to COVID-19 Testing within Underserved and Vulnerable Communities
The program supports research that aims to better...
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The Quest for Socially Cognizant Robotics
A $3 million National Science Foundation grant...
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New Plant-Based Nanowire Spray May Lead to 3D-Printed Organs
Rutgers engineers have developed a way to spray...
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Rutgers in the News: Voter Registration, Police Challenges, and Reopening Dangers
With the media landscape difficult to navigate,...
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Rutgers in the News: COVID-19 Legalities, New Jersey Voting, and U.S. Unemployment
With the pandemic far from over, President Donald...
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Study Shows 5G Wireless Can Lead to Inaccurate Weather Forecasts
Upcoming 5G wireless networks that will provide...
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Rutgers in the News: School Disparities, Political Equality, and the Fight against COVID-19
Whether they’re explored on a presidential...
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Notice Regarding Blackbaud Data Security
On July 16, 2020, Blackbaud informed some of its...
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Rutgers Receives $15 million Mellon Foundation Grant for Global Racial Justice
Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway today...
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The Barr Scholarship: A Gift with No End Zone
Graduating from Rutgers more than a century ago,...
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Rutgers in the News: The Passing of Justice Ginsburg, Pandemic Recovery Forecasts, and the Digital Divide in Schools
For news consumers, Rutgers experts appear in the...
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No Longer a Death Sentence: Transforming Cancer Care and Prevention in Africa
Rutgers Global Health Institute initiative...
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Rutgers in the News: COVID-19 Trials, Opioid Dangers, and Cyberattacks
Questions springing from the coronavirus are...
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Rutgers in the News: Increased COVID-19 Testing, Sanitization Overkill, and Wage Theft
Addressing complex questions and others, Rutgers...
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$5 Million Gift from Rutgers Alumnus Will Advance Fight against Alzheimer’s and Dementia
Herbert C. Klein, a Rutgers alumnus and longtime...
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Rutgers in the News: Back-to-School Challenges, Voter Ambivalence, and Cancer Treatment Despite COVID-19
As the new academic year begins, Rutgers students...
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Rutgers Develops Fast Way to Decontaminate N95 Masks
Two Rutgers-led studies have identified a more...
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New Jersey Maintains Economic Momentum, Defying National Trend
According to a new Rutgers report, New Jersey's...
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Rutgers in the News: Helpful Bacteria, Mail-In Ballots, and 19th Amendment Irony
Scores of Rutgers experts appear in the media...
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Rutgers in the News: Kamala Harris, Voting Controversies, and School Openings
Whether you’re looking for insight into U.S....
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Rutgers Researchers Awarded $20 Million NIH Grant to Find New Ways to Diagnose Tuberculosis
The research team of infectious disease experts...
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Early Antibiotic Use Increases Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
A study, published in Genome Medicine, provides...
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Rutgers in the News: COVID-19 and the National Conversation on the Use of Power
Rutgers continues to serve as a model for...
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Greg and Anna Brown Commit $1 Million to Student Financial Aid
The gift from the Browns is the third...
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A Rutgers Giving Day Like No Other
Building on the momentum of previous years,...
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Alumni Gary and Barbara Rodkin Commit $1 Million to Student Financial Aid
The gift from Gary and Barbara Rodkin is the...
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Rutgers in the News: Educational Values, COVID-19, and the Economy
Rutgers continues to serve as a model for...
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Rutgers in the News: Social Justice and Navigating COVID
In these turbulent times, Rutgers continues to...
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Does Asthma Raise COVID Risks? New Rutgers Study Suggests No
Reynold A. Panettieri Jr., a pulmonary critical...
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Rutgers in the News: Addressing systemic injustice and opening schools in the face of COVID
News outlets turn to Rutgers faculty and...
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Rutgers Bacteria Study Could Lead to Better COVID Disinfection Methods
A new Rutgers study, published in the...
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Rutgers University Announces Fall 2020 Plans
The fall semester at Rutgers University will...
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Rutgers Board Chair Joins President Holloway’s Call to Action
Scarlet Promise Grants offer essential financial...
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Rutgers Experts on COVID Concerns, Equal Representation, and the Legacy of Racism
New Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway arrives...
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A message from Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway
Today, Jonathan Holloway, the 21st president of...
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Thank You For Your Support
Donors to Rutgers are exemplary. Many demonstrate...
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Impact Stories
Rutgers Experts on Containing COVID-19 and Fighting for Equality
As the rise in COVID cases complicates the...
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Rutgers Experts on Black Inequality and Coronavirus Safety
Your weekly guide to Rutgers experts in the news....
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Rutgers to Support Statewide Contact Tracing Program
Rutgers University has partnered with the State...
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Rutgers Experts on Racial Justice, COVID Pandemic, and New Political Realities
Members of the Rutgers community have come...
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The Perfect Storm of Pandemics
Brian L. Strom, chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical...
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Rutgers Sociologist Awarded Fellowship Aimed at Eradicating Racial Disparities in the Arts and Humanities
Melissa Valle is one of 32 fellows chosen from...
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Rutgers Researchers Receive Award to Develop First-in-Class Anticancer Therapeutics
Rutgers cancer researchers have been awarded...
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Charitable Gift Annuity Rates
The charitable gift annuity (CGA) is a simple and...
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Rutgers’ Critical Role in Pandemic Recovery
As areas of the country slowly reopen under...
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As the Nation Slowly Reopens, Rutgers Helps Chart the Path
University experts have been at the forefront of...
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How Rutgers Leads at a Time of Crisis
Rutgers University presence at the front lines of...
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New RWJMS Study Finds Young People at Greater Risk From COVID-19 Than Previously Thought
Children, teens and young adults are at greater...
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Rutgers Community is Responding to COVID-19
During these unprecedented times, Rutgers...
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FDA Approves First At-Home Saliva Collection Test for Coronavirus
Rutgers’ RUCDR Infinite Biologics received an...
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Rutgers Leads Clinical Trial of Drug to Prevent Cytokine Storms in COVID-19 Patients
Rutgers has launched a clinical trial to test...
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Rutgers Community Raises over $250,000 on #GivingTuesdayNow
Alumni and donors raise more than $250,000 for...
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#GivingTuesdayNow: Join Rutgers in the Fight Against COVID-19
Join the global movement to fight COVID-19 today,...
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Rutgers Plays Key Role in Reopening New Jersey
Governor Phil Murphy's plan to safely rollback...
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Rutgers Law Mortgage Foreclosure Project Assists in Saving New Jersey Residents from Losing their Homes
A Rutgers University–Camden law professor and...
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Rutgers, University Hospital Lead Way in Treating COVID-19 with Convalescent Plasma from Recovered Patients
Rutgers physicians and University Hospital are...
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Rapid Screening Process for Infectious Diseases Being Created in Rutgers University–Camden Research Lab
The fight against the coronavirus is underway in...
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New Rutgers Saliva Test for Coronavirus Gets FDA Approval
The FDA has granted emergency use authorization...
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How the CARES Act Affects Charitable Giving
On March 27, in response to the economic strain...
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Message from President Barchi
Rutgers President Robert Barchi sends a message...
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Rutgers Launches Genetic Testing Service for New Coronavirus
Rutgers’ RUCDR Infinite Biologics has launched...
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What it Takes to Beat a Worldwide Pandemic
Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) has...
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Rutgers Creates COVID-19 Center to Fight Pandemic
Rutgers has created a new center to coordinate...
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New Device Quickly Detects Harmful Bacteria in Blood
Engineers have created a tiny device that can...
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How the Building Blocks of Life Got Built
Rutgers researchers have discovered the origins...
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Message to Alumni and Donors Regarding COVID-19 Response
Rutgers University Foundation president, Nevin...
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Supporting students during the COVID-19 outbreak
Many of you have asked how you can help students...
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Rutgers Recognized as a Leader in Supporting Low-Income Students
Rutgers University-New Brunswick is a national...
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Rutgers Leads $1.5 Million Project for Ocean Acidification Monitoring on the U.S. Northeast Shelf
Grace Saba, assistant professor, is the lead...
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Surgeon who Separated Conjoined Twins Mentors Rutgers Undergraduates
A Rutgers graduate, Stylianos led the teams that...
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Jonathan Holloway Named 21st President of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Holloway will begin serving as president on July...
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Rutgers Giving Tuesday Initiative to End Student Hunger
Being a student is hard. It’s even harder when...
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Putting an End to a Pernicious Disease
Rutgers neuroscientists are exploring promising...
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Putting the Promise in Scarlet Promise Grants
In an effort to help more students avoid...
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Growing for the Greater Good
Through the generosity of donors such as Richard...
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Grand Opening Held for RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center at Rutgers University
Rutgers Athletics held a ribbon-cutting ceremony...
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Donor Profiles
Rutgers Alumnus Makes Largest Scholarship Gift Ever to University
Richard N. Weeks, a 1950 Rutgers graduate who...
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Rutgers’ Record-Breaking Fundraising Year Will Improve Lives in New Jersey and Beyond
Rutgers donors committed a record-breaking $250.9...
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Impact Stories
Rutgers Community Donates Paul Robeson Plaza
Rutgers is in the midst of celebrating 2019 as...
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Lavelle Fund Gift for Blindness Program
A grant from the Lavelle Fund for the Blind to...
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Donor Profiles
From Meter Reader to Multimillion-Dollar Donor: The Remarkable Journey of a SMLR Alumnus
Bill and Lois Dwyer are gifting $50,000 to...
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Impact Stories
Alumna Marlene Brandt commits $30 million to transform behavioral health care for young people
Spurred by a pressing need for comprehensive...
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Helping Tomorrow’s Leaders Meet Their Potential
Former Rutgers Assistance Grants get a boost with...
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Impact Stories
Prudential Establishes Newark Scholarship Program
Rutgers University–Newark received welcome news...
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The Demand for Special Needs Dentists
John Barnosky became an advocate for expanding...
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Rutgers Approves Construction of Athletic Practice Facility
The Rutgers University Board of Governors today...
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