Contact
Kristin Peterson
kpeterson@dom.edu
(708) 524-6452
July 29, 2009
Dominican University welcomes Iraqi student in the fall
Dominican University will welcome Ali Falah, a refugee from Iraq, to study at the university through the Iraqi Student Project (ISP). The university is offering Falah a tuition waiver, and a support group of people from Dominican and the Oak Park and River Forest community is raising funds for housing, insurance, books, transportation, clothing and other supplies. Falah plans to study international business.“Dominican University is delighted to welcome Ali,” says Sister Diane Kennedy, OP, vice president for mission and ministry. “We know the suffering of the Iraqi people caused by years of sanctions and by two wars. Offering opportunities to Iraqi students to complete their education in the United States is one way we can help rebuild Iraq and offer hope to the next generation of leaders.”
Falah was born and raised in Baghdad but after the U.S. invasion, safety and security worsened and his family was forced to move to Amman, Jordan. Like many young Iraqi refugees living in Jordan and Syria, Falah was not able to work or continue his education. ISP was founded to help provide an undergraduate education to Iraqi students who lost their opportunities for study following the war in Iraq. By September of this year, 35 Iraqi students, most of them from the refugee population in Syria, will be studying in 32 different US colleges.
Falah is excited about the opportunity to get an education and return to improve Iraq. “I made up my mind to do my best to be part of the solution and take part in rebuilding life in all aspects in my beloved Iraq,” he wrote in an introductory essay. “I am happy to be accepted at Dominican University. I hope this will be the beginning of a good period in my life. The past few years have been a bit hectic in a lot of aspects. I hope that I will make my family and everybody who made this possible for me really proud.”
For more information on ISP, visit http://iraqistudentproject.org
Founded in 1901, Dominican University is a comprehensive, coeducational Catholic institution offering bachelor’s and master’s degrees. In the 2009 issue of America’s Best Colleges, U.S. News & World Report again ranked Dominican University in the top tier of Midwest master’s level universities.
