By: Alvin Wilson 
Staff Writer

In an attempt to help refugees of the Syrian civil war, a professor at Guilford College in North Carolina has started a project called Every Campus a Refuge.

Every Campus a Refuge is an initiative that encourages colleges and universities to work with local refugee placement agencies to house a refugee family for 90 days during the resettlement process.

Diya Abdo, the Guilford College professor who created the program, explained the inspiration behind his idea during an interview on NPR.

Abdo stated, “When the pope called on every parish in Europe to host a refugee family, I began thinking deeply about that call for cities to become a place of refuge.”

“I thought well, a campus is very much like a city. We have facilities for housing. We have medical facilities. We have hundreds of human beings with various skills. We have cafeterias,” said Abdo, “So why not, why not take on the Pope’s call and become a refuge?”

Abdo believes university and college campuses can make the transition stage for refugees much easier.

“When refugees come in, they’re only given a one-time stipend – each refugee. And that stipend they’re supposed to use to pay rent, to pay for food, for transportation,” Abdo said.

“But if a campus houses them for those 90 days, after which they’re supposed to become self-sufficient, then they don’t have to use that stipend and they don’t have to worry about all the things they need to worry about. What they can do in those 90 days is focus on adjusting culturally, emotionally, psychologically.”

But is this initiative something all universities should participate in?

Dr. Paula Baldwin, assistant professor of communications here at Western, said the program sounds great, but there is a lot to consider when thinking about housing a refugee family from a completely different culture.

Dr. Baldwin said, “My question is: where would they be housed? Do we have the space? Do we put them on a food program like the residential food plan, or do we try to put them in a faculty space where they would have a kitchen?”

“How can we respect their cultural needs while helping them acclimate? When we think about housing them, we have to think about all of these factors,” said Baldwin.

Even though it might make us feel good, it’s really not that simple, Baldwin explains.

“We think about it very simply. We’re offering them refuge. We’re offering them shelter. Sometimes we do good deeds and we think, ‘okay, we got a roof over their head and food in their bellies. It’s good, right?”’

“It’s a great idea, and I think it’s a great teaching moment, but we need to think beyond that,” Baldwin said.

She said it would be important to integrate them into the community so they don’t feel excluded.

“Think about how they could be integrated into our community. They could go and speak to classes about their experience. When we see somebody’s story, and we hear them, it brings it to life for us. It makes it real in a way that it isn’t when we read it in the news.”

When asked if Western would make a good refuge for Syrian refugees, Baldwin said only if we thoroughly consider everything.

“It’s not about putting a roof over their heads and giving them some food. They’re already stressed. They’ve already gone through so much trauma that we cannot even imagine. As long as we think that through, I think we’re a great candidate. It’s a beautiful campus. It’s a little bit healing to be here.”

The governor of North Carolina has publicly stated his opposition to the placement of Syrian refugees in the state, and representatives of the state have asked Guilford College to rescind its offer to house refugees.

“But we stand firm by our offer,” Abdo said. “And in fact, we feel that this is an excellent opportunity for institutions of higher learning to intervene in the discourse around the refugees. If campuses around the U.S. say no, we will take in the refugees, then that radically provides a positive welcome.”

For more information about Every Campus a Refuge, visit www.everycampusarefuge.org