Appeal

Appeal to Higher-Education Institutions around the World

As forty million Afghans face a dramatically uncertain future, the educational institutions of the world community have the opportunity and the responsibility to safeguard Afghans’ access to their basic human right of education and live up to what these institutions were created for: to generate and promote knowledge beyond national boundaries.

  1. As such, we appeal to educational institutions worldwide to open your virtual doors and extend your programs, free of charge and administrative hoops, to individuals in Afghanistan and Afghan refugees displaced in other countries so they may continue to partake in learning and contribute to the progress of mankind.
  1. We appeal that priority be given to women and religious and ethnic minorities, who have historically and currently face severe educational restrictions to enroll in your online courses, even if initially the classes are not for credit or a specific degree.
  1. Furthermore, we urge your institutions to develop possibilities for offering Afghans living in Afghanistan degree-related programs and the ability to remotely attend and complete a degree at your institution.

By endorsing this petition, the undersigned take no political stance and reiterate a single aim: to create a pathway for Afghan learners to continue their essential human right to education, despite the political instabilities facing Afghanistan’s future. 

We now call on you to consider the possibilities, both as a humanitarian act as well as the next leap forward for your educational institution; and with that, we leave you with your conscience and our faith in your ability to take action now.

Thank you,

The Afghan diaspora and allies:

  1. Misaq Kazimi, filmmaker/youth educator; Afghan-American
  2. Wali Ahmadi, Department Chair & Associate Professor, University of California, Berkeley; PhD, UCLA, Afghan-American
  3. Amin Tarzi, Faculty, University of Southern California and George Mason University; Director, Brute Krulak Center, Marine Corps University; PhD, NYU, Afghan-American
  4. Farhad Darya, Singer-Songwriter, Activist and Former United Nations Goodwill Ambassador; Afghan-American
  5. Mohsen Makhmalbaf, filmmaker/educator; Honorary PhD, Paris Nanterre University; UK
  6. Salem Hassani, Afghan theologian/educator, Almostafa Uni., Turkey
  7. Aria Fani, Assistant professor, Uni. of Washington; PhD, UC Berkeley
  8. Robert Crews, Professor, Standford University; PhD, Princeton
  9. Meena Hakimyar, Professor, Seneca College, Afghan-Canadian
  10. Leila Nadir, Program Director, University of Rochester; British-Afghan
  11. Hossna Sadat, Assistant Professor, Palomar College, Afghan-American
  12. Jean Howard, Professor, Columbia University; PhD, Yale
  13. Zuzanna Olszewska, Associate Professor, University of Oxford, UK
  14. Ross King, Professor, University of British Columbia; PhD, Harvard
  15. Roderick A. Ferguson, Professor, Yale University
  16. Domenico Ingenito, Associate professor, University of California Los Angeles; PhD, Università di Napoli, Italy
  17. Sahar D. Sattarzadeh, Assistant Professor, DePauw University; Research Associate, Mandela University, South Africa
  18. Ayda Melika, Professor, Georgia Tech; PhD, UC Berkley
  19. Anna Bigelow, Associate Professor, Standford University
  20. Mohabbat Ahmadi, Administration, UC Merced; MBA, American University of Afghanistan; Afghan-American
  21. K. Allison Hammer, Senior Lecturer, Vanderbilt University
  22. Ariana Afzali, Administration, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Afghan-American
  23. Alexander Jabbari, Assistant professor, University of Oklahoma; PhD, University of California, Irvine
  24. Tammy S. Bathke, Professor, College of the Canyons; PhD, UCLA
  25. Roya Mavaddat, Adjunct professor, CSU Northridge; PhD, Michigan State University
  26. Sam Shooshtary, Associate Professor & Counselor, MiraCosta College
  27. Gregory Durbin, Professor, San Diego State University; MFA, University of California, San Diego
  28. Jordan van Rijn, Faculty Associate, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  29. Mateusz M.P. Kłagisz, Professor, Jagiellonian University
  30. Belgheis Alavi Jafari, Lecturer, Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales, France
  31. Aslisho Qurboniev, Postdoc Researcher, Aga Khan University; PhD, University of Cambridge, Pakistan
  32. David Daniel Bogumil, Faculty, CSU Northridge; PhD, UCLA
  33. Briauna Johnson, Lecturer, California State University, Northridge
  34. Muhammad Sahimi, Professor, University of Southern California
  35. Kari A Meyers, Faculty, California State University, Northridge
  36. Liza Schuster, Program Director, City, University of London, UK
  37. Samer Ali, Associate Professor, University of Michigan
  38. Lauren McDonald, Professor, California State University Northridge
  39. Kathryn Babayan, Professor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  40. Mostafa Abedinifard, Assistant professor, Uni. of British Columbia
  41. Daniela Kantorova, Faculty, The Wright Institute; Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Ostrava University; Czech Republic
  42. Bret Kaufman, Professor, Cypress College
  43. Ajay Parasram, Lecturer, Dalhousie University
  44. Sahba Shayani, Lecturer, University of Oxford; Phd, UCLA
  45. Ellis Godard, Associate Professor, CSU Northridge
  46. Zarin Xavier, Liberian, University of Denver
  47. Kevin L. Schwartz, Research Fellow, Czech Academy of Sciences; PhD, UC Berkeley, Czech Republic
  48. Zulaikha Naimi, MD, Claude Bernard Uni. Lyon, Afghan-French
  49. Taraneh Firoozi, Former Adjunct professor, Uni. of Illinois, Chicago
  50. Jonathan King, Former VP of Student Affairs, Lake Tahoe Community College
  51. Maryam Mohaghegh, Lecturer, North Carolina State University
  52. Daniel Aldrich, Director, Security & Resilience Studies, Northeastern University
  53. Nadia Kim, Professor, Loyola Marymount University,
  54. Amani Attia, Professor, University of Pittsburgh
  55. Deepak Sarma, Professor, Case Western Reserve University
  56. Robert W. Hefner, Professor, Boston University
  57. Shahla Haeri, Professor, Boston University
  58. Simeon Man, Associate Professor, Director of Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies Program, UCSD
  59. Saba Ayman-Nolley, Emerita Faculty, Northeastern Illinois Uni.
  60. Sunaina Maira, Professor, UC Davis
  61. Susette Min, Associate Professor UC Davis
  62. Suad Joseph, Distinguished Research Professor, UC Davis
  63. Pamela Crossley, Professor, Dartmouth College
  64. Lisa Sun-Hee Park, Professor, UC Santa Barbara
  65. David N. Pellow, Chair & Professor, UC Santa Barbara
  66. Faiz Ahmed, Associate Professor, Brown University
  67. Nitasha Sharma, Director Asian American Studies, Professor, Northwestern University
  68. Tyrell Haberkorn, Professor, University of Wisconsin, Madison
  69. Na’ím Anís Paymán, The Ward & Brown Foundation; Masters, University of Cambridge, UK
  70. Ahmad Rashid Salim, Doctoral Candidate, University of California, Berkeley; Afghan-American
  71. Mejgan Massoumi, Doctoral Candidate, Standford University; Afghan-American
  72. Nilab Ferozan, Doctoral candidate, McMaster University; Afghan-American, Afghan-Canadian
  73. Arazoo Ferozan, Doctoral candidate, McMaster University; Afghan-Canadian
  74. Farid Zareie, Doctoral candidate, University of California, Berkeley
  75. Mona Moayedi, Doctoral Student, University of Denver
  76. Seyyed Roohollah Masoomi, Doctoral candidate, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran
  77. Shahla Farghadani, Doctoral candidate, University of Michigan
  78. Afifa Zaman, Faculty Counselor, MiraCosta College, Afghan-American
  79. You, become a signatory.

*Afghan-American & non-US based signatories are marked as such in the list.

Your Turn

1) If you’re a current or former educator or administrative staff at a higher-education institution, please become a signatory & invite a colleague to do so the same.

2) If you know of an educator or a college/university administration staff, please forward them the Appeal link (www.theafghan.org/appeal).

3) If you would like to help with this initiative in any other way, please contact us.

[Sign Here]

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