THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2023 51 intercultural skills, empathy, and compassion—a kind of “study abroad” at home. And with study abroad so expensive and inaccessible to students with jobs and families, says Jennifer N. Fish, professor and ECAR leader at Old Dominion University in Virginia, this is a truly “international immersion” experience that is “expansive” and meaningful while being suitable for students who cannot do something similar off-site due to a variety of limitations (transportation, etc.). For students preparing to work with diverse populations in their professions—as schoolteachers, nurses, and social workers—this kind of engagement is practical, experiential, and place-based. Perhaps no better example illustrates the intersectional power of this work than one student’s project at Russell Sage College. In working with the families supported by her ECAR chapter, Jada Ruiz, an arts major at this small, private liberal arts institution in upstate New York, found that the children needed a little boost in their English language learning. Marshaling her graphic design skills, Jada created an English alphabet coloring book about Albany: “I Belong in Albany.” It not only teaches the children the English letters but also connects every letter with Albany (e.g., its special buildings, icons, modes of transportation), allowing the children to better understand their new home—where they belong. ECAR Grows For Washington State University’s Associate Vice President for International Programs Paul Whitney, having WSU join Every Campus A Refuge was a way to support Afghan allies and stemmed from his belief in the power of higher education and its impact in the world. It was the same for Associate Provost and Dean of Oklahoma State University’s Global Studies Program Randy Kluver, who reminds us that, especially for public and land-grant institutions, the “university is all about the prosperity of [their] community.” Supporting newcomers to one’s community is “part of helping this community prosper”; indeed, it is “an investment” in that community. Over the last year, both WSU and OSU have hosted a total of 80 Afghan evacuees on their campus grounds and are supporting them in their resettlement. They represent what I believe is a natural evolution for higher education, developing “resettlement campuses”—higher education institutions that leverage their material and human resources to support refugee resettlement and integration while transforming the educational experiences of their students. Resettlement campuses are growing around the country in response to several realities and needs. After years of decimation to the refugee resettlement program—funding decrease, attrition Ali Sadiq Jaafar Al-Khasrachi used the art supplies at Guilford College to practice his calligraphy and artwork. DIYA ABDO
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