Mass. college will award full scholarship to a refugee following Trump order

A Massachusetts liberal arts college is offering a full scholarship to a refugee fleeing war and violence, with preference given to those from one of the Muslim-majority countries targeted by President Trump’s immigration order.

In a message announcing the scholarship, Wheaton College President Dennis Hanno argued the importance of allowing international students to study at U.S. colleges and universities,

“The current executive order on immigration, which was signed on Friday, January 27, endangers the broadly diverse learning environment that is essential to our mission,” Hanno said in a news release this week.

{mosads}

“This new policy implies that international students are neither needed nor wanted. This is false, and we must counter that divisive message,” he continued.

He also urged the Trump administration to rescind the Jan. 27 executive order barring refugees and citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries – Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and Somalia – from entering the U.S.

If the order isn’t rescinded, Hanno said, the scholarship will go to a refugee from a war-torn country already living in the U.S.

“At the same time, we urge our country’s leaders to end swiftly the ban on welcoming refugees and foreign nationals to sustain the productive exchange of ideas and viewpoints that make our institutions of higher learning such fertile ground for expanding knowledge and hope,” he said.