They face abandoned university buildings, an alarming shortage of qualified educators and the constant threat of violence. Deprived of a college education, Iraqi students have found themselves with few options and dwindling hope.
Without professors, books, computers and the essential tools to succeed, the Iraqi education system continues to unravel, and qualified Iraqi students are left with few opportunities for a college education. Millions of Iraqi citizens have taken refuge in Syria and Jordan, but they are unable to benefit from the overcrowded university systems.
In 2005, after the U.S. invaded Iraq, Gabe Huck and Theresa Kubasak retired and moved to Damascus, Syria. It was during this time that they witnessed the growing number of Iraqis entering Syria seeking opportunity. They wanted to do something to help both rebuild Iraq and aid those in search of education.
“As the number of Iraqi refugees in Syria grew to 1.5 million, we thought we could do this one small thing,” Huck said. “Iraq had a fine system of higher education, now in ruins. The U.S. could perhaps offer tuition and support to some Iraqi students who would then return to help their country.” In 2007, Huck and Kubasak founded “The Iraqi Student Project,” a nonprofit organization that provides Iraqi students with the opportunity to attend college in the U.S.
With the assistance from American universities and the Homeland Security Department, the Iraqi Student Project became a reality. Under the stipulations of the project, Iraqi students are allowed to enter the U.S. on an F1 visa and receive tuition waivers from numerous universities. The University is one of 30 colleges across the nation participating in this program.
For Kubasak, this project is a small way to help the Iraqi citizens build a future.
“We don’t have much to offer by way of reparation and reconciliation. But undergraduate education may be one thing we can give that will have some lasting value for Iraqis,” Kubasak said.
“These are great young people — good students, eager to learn. Their sufferings and losses are now part of what makes them strong.”
The Iraqi Student Project and the University have provided 18-year-old freshman Awab Al-rawe, a high school graduate from Baghdad, with the chance to attend college. Al-rawe will attend the University for four years using an F1 visa. Al-rawe and his family had relocated to Syria, and Al-rawe was not planning on going to college until he heard about the Iraqi Student Project.
“I moved to Syria after the situation got too dangerous and unbearable in 2007. I graduated high school and after that I had nothing to do,” Al-rawe said. “I had no hope to get into a university in Syria, and I couldn’t return to Iraq because it was very dangerous.”
Al-rawe learned about the Iraqi Student Project from a visiting Alaskan journalist in Iraq who knew of the project and suggested that Al-rawe apply. After Al-rawe researched the program, he took a required English test and earned one of the highest scores. It was not long before he was accepted into the program.
“I wasn’t even considering studying in Iraq or Syria. I had absolutely no options. It is too hard to get a study visa to any country in the world. I was relying on the Iraqi Student Project for my future,” Al-rawe said. “I remember I told my mom one day, ‘If this project doesn’t work, I will join the army.’”
Al-rawe began his college experience this term at the University, and said he has enjoyed representing his country so far.
“This program requires the student to give talks and presentations to the community to introduce our culture,” Al-rawe said. “Since I love to talk and represent my country, I felt like this would be the perfect chance for me to do that,” Al-rawe said.
Kubasak is sure that all the Iraqi students participating in the program are both motivated and highly qualified students.
“The college sees the documents of the proposed student from ISP and can agree or not that the student is qualified,” Kubasak said. “So, the college has the last word. If accepted, there are usually full scholarships. We have students now at a variety of excellent colleges from the UO to Dartmouth,” she said.
The Iraqi Student Project aims to provide students with an education so that when they return to Iraq they can participate as leaders in the attempt to rebuild their country. Al-rawe has not yet declared a major, but he plans to study political science. Because the F1 visa only allows Al-rawe to stay in the U.S. for his undergraduate education, he plans to return to Iraq after he graduates.
“If I had the chance to continue to get a M.A., I would stay here,” Al-rawe said.
“The thing about Iraq now is it’s completely unpredictable. Nobody knows what is going to happen in the next hour so I can’t predict how it is going to be in four years.”
Although the stability of Iraq is in question, Al-rawe knows that he will be returning home with a college degree, and he said his education here in Oregon has given him a unique chance to succeed.
“I have a great responsibility to Iraq, my family and the Iraqi Student Project. They are all counting on me to be successful and represent my country in the best way that I can,” Al-rawe said. “My education here is my greatest asset; it is my future.”
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