Fanshawe offering new scholarship for Afghan refugees

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: HANNAH THEODORE
Office of the Registrar at Fanshawe College, 2021.

Fanshawe College recently announced a new scholarship for Afghanistan refugees.

“The executive leadership sat together and said, you know, immigrants or refugees have honestly been through so much,” said Executive Director for Reputation and Brand Management, Dave Schwartz. “What can Fanshawe do? So it’s actually a Fanshawe funded scholarship for five students. It’s two years of education that includes the tuition and fees. It also includes $500 each semester, for expenses such as books.”

The department is collaborating with London’s Cross Cultural Learner Centre. This centre is referring members within the city who identify with the specified criteria of this scholarship.

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“We’re not actually working with any immigration departments or refugees directly. We’re relying on our partner to help refer students to us, who would qualify for this scholarship,” said Schwartz.

Schwartz pointed to Fanshawe president, and member of the executive leadership team, Peter Devlin, and Registrar and Executive Director of Student Success, Janice Lamoureux, as the two core individuals who implemented this scholarship.

“So it’s really to their credit that they’ve invented this, and they’ve found the funding inside our budget to pay for it,” said Schwartz.

Schwartz also felt that this a small part for the college and his team, but they recognize the trauma the recipients have endured. The final purpose for this scholarship is also help these individuals obtain employment after graduating from Fanshawe.

“They’ll get great jobs out of Fanshawe, they can start their lives, you know, we have lots of support for them as well,” added Schwartz.

Furthermore, the scholarship recipients will work closely with the advising team at Fanshawe. With over 200 different programs offered at the college, Schwartz and his team want to guarantee the appropriate program for the refugees. They also want to ensure that these students aren’t lacking any requirements and if so, they’re willing to help.

“They might require an English upgrading, and we even have a great student success team, where they can get tutoring, if they need it. They can get counselling and accessibility if they need it. We also have an award-winning career services, so ideally, after they go through their post-secondary, we can get them a great job and start here in Canada.”

Fanshawe also offers multiple grants and bursaries, and Schwartz highly encouraged prospective and current students to speak to the Financial Aid office to learn more.

“I always say, no matter who you are, talk to our financial aid team, because there’s a lot of money out there. Both through the Ontario government and alone, there’s a lot of grants.”

Any individuals interested in learning more on this scholarship are encouraged to communicate with London’s leading newcomer agency, Cross Cultural Learner Centre, and speak to advisors their on their employment and academic goals.