Palestinian Students in Tomorrow’s Leaders Program Assured Scholarship until Graduation

By: Nada Mostafa
@NadaMnaguib

The Provost has assured Palestinian students of their future at AUC after the US State Department revoked funding for the Tomorrow’s Leaders (TL) Scholarship Program for students from the West Bank and Gaza strip.

“Palestinian Tomorrow’s Leaders scholars can complete their courses up to graduation and enjoy the same benefits to what they had under the Tomorrow’s Leaders program,” Provost Ehab Abdel Rahman said in an email to AUC on January 31.

The Scholarship program which the US had initiated in 2007 and funded through the US Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) “provides educational opportunities to outstanding youth with leadership potential from different countries in the Arab World,” according to its description on the AUC website.

Officer Reem Khedr explained that the revoking of funding from Palestinian nationals came shortly after the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA) was approved by the US Congress in October 2018.

AUC was informed of the decision to revoke the funding on January 4 during the winter break, effective January 31.

“They were waiting for all of us to come back [from winter break] so we’d all meet officially [and be told] what was going to happen,” explained Lama Aaloul, a graduating senior majoring in Graphic Design, and a former TL.

“Those who are eligible [for the program] are students form the MENA region, but we were informed that Palestinian nationality holders will no longer be part of the program effective end of January.”

In his email, the Provost said: “The referenced change in the US law will have no financial or practical impact on our students: they will continue in their studies at AUC without interruption.”

The revoking of funding to Palestinian students by the US State Department has sparked in TLs of other nationalities.

“My other TL friends all said they feel unsafe now because these things can happen to any of us,” said Aaloul.

“We came here for a four-year scholarship. This was very unexpected. It really hit us.”

Khedr shared the same concern over the wellbeing of other TLs. “Some of them are frustrated and they feel that it’s unreasonable, but they were assured by the provost that nothing will affect their intended course of study at AUC,” she said.

“They are all very disappointed,” said Khedr.

Furthermore, being a TL was part of the students’ identities, that they have suddenly lost.

“I used to identify myself as a Tomorrow’s Leader, and that was something I felt proud to be called and to be identified as,” Aaloul said.

“Unfortunately for us, the Palestinians here, we cannot call ourselves that.”

Aaloul said she was thankful for the comforting words from the Provost.

“[The Provost assured] us not to worry about any of the finances and told us that once you’re an AUCian, you’ll always be an AUCian.”