A new fund launched in advance of GiveDay, on Thursday, April 18, will enable students from Afghanistan to experience a life-changing University of Lynchburg education.
Launching the Afghanistan Student Education Fund is the first step toward supporting young Afghan women and opens the door for donors to invest in this powerful opportunity.
As with all scholarships and funds, there is no application process for receiving these funds. And no funds will be awarded to qualifying Afghan students until the ASEF is fully funded — a goal the school hopes to reach by the 2025-26 academic year.
GiveDay will also provide opportunities for individuals to make their gifts to the fund go even further. “Several alumni have already stepped up to offer a generous match,” said Kerry Kinnison, major gifts officer at the University.
Special consideration will be given to Afghan women, especially those from marginalized communities, which are particularly at risk from the Taliban. The militant group currently controls Afghanistan and has banned girls and women from secondary schools and universities.
Alissa Keith ’14 MA, an English instructor at Lynchburg, launched efforts to create the fund. Over the past year, she has helped bring two female Afghan students to Lynchburg.
Rezayi — not her real name, due to personal security concerns — arrived on campus last fall intending to become a physician someday. According to Keith, she’s thriving.
“She loves her classes,” Keith said. “She took an art class last semester and was just so excited that she decided to minor in art. Even before the Taliban, there were not a ton of extracurricular options. She’s very good at chalk and charcoal drawing.
“She’s really enjoying the opportunities she has here.”
B — also not her real name — arrived on campus for the spring semester. Shortly thereafter, she joined a running club led by a member of Lynchburg’s women’s cross-country team.
“B just wants to run,” Keith said, adding that Rezayi also runs, but couldn’t join the club due to her class schedule. “I reached out to Riverside Runners and told them the situation and asked if they would donate shoes, and they did.
“They got fit for the shoes they wanted and got the colors they wanted. Both have a pair of running shoes so they can run. They weren’t allowed to run [in Afghanistan].”
As Keith puts it, it took a “thousand little miracles” to get Rezayi and B from Afghanistan to Lynchburg. It involved various nonprofits, including the Afghan Girls Financial Assistance Fund and Girls College, an “educational initiative founded to offer free quality education to high school female students throughout Afghanistan.”
Anonymous donors and volunteers from in and beyond the city of Lynchburg helped, too. One started a GoFundMe. Another looked over the students’ immigration paperwork. Others paid for flights to and from Pakistan, where the students had to go to obtain travel visas, and for lodging while there.
A local couple with a heart for helping immigrants provided free, off-campus housing.
Keith wants to bring more students to Lynchburg from Afghanistan, but even with help from volunteers and donors and scholarships from the University, there will still be a funding gap for each student. This is where the new fund comes into play.
“A lot of people in the world want to do something to help someone and don’t always know how to do that,” Keith said. “So, I thought it would be an opportunity for us to create a pathway for a small group of women who genuinely just want an education.
“We have that to provide to them. We just need to pay for it.”
According to the Office of Advancement, awards from the Afghanistan Student Education Fund can be used for any University-related expenses, including tuition, room and board, transportation, books, or other needs.
Gifts to the Afghanistan Student Education Fund are tax-deductible. For more information about making a gift or to donate, visit lynchburg.edu/give or contact Kerry Kinnison, major gifts officer, at 434.544.8966 or kinnison_kr@lynchburg.edu.
To apply as a student to the University of Lynchburg, please visit lynchburg.edu/apply.
