Op-Ed: Offering Refuge to Endangered Scholars

 

In an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times, IIE Trustee and Scholar Rescue Fund Chairman Mark Angelson and IIE President Allan Goodman issue a call to action to campuses and donors to help meet the unprecedented demand for rescue that has been caused by the escalating conflict in Iraq and Syria.

Drawing on chilling stories from the scholars who applied for emergency assistance from IIE-SRF this summer, the authors provide vivid illustrations of the fact that academics are at particularly high risk in conflict zones, and make the case that protecting scholars in war-torn nations is essential for rebuilding.

 

"More scholars are displaced and in danger now than at any time since the start of World War II. With the rapid advance of Islamic State, university systems in Iraq and Syria are in ruins. ... As government leaders struggle to find the right military approach, the international academic community also has a responsibility to do its part by rescuing the people who are essential to rebuilding their war-torn societies when Islamic State is defeated."