Supporting Scholars Under Threat
Since 2016 Global Cornell has led campus and community support for international scholars, students, and human rights defenders whose work puts them at risk in their home countries.
Virtual Scholars Under Threat
In 2023, Cornell pioneered the Virtual Scholar Under Threat program with IIE-SRF, enabling scholars to anchor near their home regions through a cohosted fellowship with a regional host institution. Our first two virtual scholars are from Ukraine and work remotely in European locations.
Global Cornell's first virtual scholar, Eugene Nikiforovich, a professor of fluid mechanics at the National Technical University of Ukraine in Kyiv, visited the campus in April. Due to the unrest in Ukraine, he was forced to flee and is currently based in Latvia with support from Cornell and IIE. During his week-long visit, Nikiforovich met with Ukrainian-language students and engineering faculty and students to explore potential partnerships for his renewable energy research.
Ukrainian literary scholar Oleksandra Shtepenko is participating in a research fellowship at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland. Shtepenko visited campus in November. She met with students and participated in Working Across Wartime Borders, a roundtable moderated by Anindita Banerjee (Comparative Literature), Shtepenko's Cornell host and virtual collaborator.
Read about Supporting Threatened Scholars Through Regional Placements
Broad-Reaching Partnerships
Global Cornell works closely with the International Institute of Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF) to provide sanctuary for scholars at risk of persecution in their home countries. Cornell offers these scholars the opportunity to continue their research and teaching in a welcoming, safe, and supportive scholarly community as they pursue a more permanent situation for themselves and their families. We also work with IIE's Artist Protection Fund (IIE-APF) to offer refuge for threatened artists.
Thomas A. Russo, JD/MBA ’69, helped found IIE-SRF in 2002. Since then, the fund has worked to arrange temporary appointments for more than 700 scholars at over 370 institutions. Cornell first connected with IIE-SRF in 2004, when the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences supported a plant breeder fleeing political violence in Côte D’Ivoire.
Cornell's global and local partner organizations include:
- IIE-SRF and IIE-APF
- Open Society University Network’s Threatened Scholars Integration Initiative
- Ithaca City of Asylum, an all-volunteer project of the Center for Transformative Action
- Ithaca Welcomes Refugees
Opportunity Network for At-Risk Writers, Artists, Rights Defenders, and Scholars (ONWARDS) is a collaborative effort by civil society groups to support scholars under threat living in the U.S. by providing professional development resources and guidance. This project is locally coordinated by Ithaca City of Asylum and funded by Cornell's Scholars Under Threat initiative, part of Global Cornell.
Connect with their upcoming events and recorded workshops.
“By partnering with international scholar rescue organizations and local and campus partners, Global Cornell can provide visitors with a safe refuge and welcoming community, professional and educational opportunities, and resources to gain their footing and look ahead.”
~Wendy Wolford, Vice Provost of International Affairs
Campus Involvement
Cornell's work with scholars under threat has brought dozens of students and scholars to campus, including undergraduate and graduate students, academics, writers, journalists, and artists from seven countries. For scholars, a placement at Cornell provides an opportunity to engage in an intellectual and supportive community, collaborate on research, and teach students. For students, we offer access to higher education that is not available in the situations from which they are fleeing.
The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, in collaboration with academic departments across campus, hosts visitors during their time at Cornell. Einaudi and campus partners provide a welcoming intellectual community, collaborators and connections, and opportunities to build a sustainable career in the United States.
Scholars currently hosted at Cornell:
- The Einaudi Center's South Asia Program is hosting two Afghan scholars, one connected to the Department of Natural Resources and one to the Department of Government.
- The Einaudi Center's Latin American and Caribbean Studies program is hosting a Nicaraguan scholar.
- Global Cornell hosts two scholars, an Afghan artist within the Johnson Art Museum, who has been accepted into the History of Art and Archaeology PhD program, and a Ukrainian scholar remotely at Nicolaus Copernicus University (NCU) in Poland.
- The Cornell Law School supports an Afghan law scholar.
- The Department of Food Science is hosting a scholar from Venezuela.
Scholars and Students in the News
Even before she took office in 2019, Zarifa Ghafari – the youngest and one of the only female mayors to serve in Afghanistan – became a target of the Taliban. She survived multiple assassination attempts, and in 2020, her father was fatally shot outside his home.
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At the IIE-SRF Forum in Brussels, Nishi Dhupa presented a partnership model developed by Cornell and IIE-SRF to offer funding and professional resources to Ukrainian scholars undertaking IIE-SRF fellowships in Eastern Europe.
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Pedro X. Molina joined a panel at Syracuse's new Institute for Democracy Journalism and Citizenship In Washington, DC, to discuss democracy, journalism, citizenship, and cartooning (timestamp: 1:11).
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“To me, the ability to host scholars under threat and to work with IIE is really core to the entire mission of higher education and the mission of the university,” says Wendy Wolford, vice provost for international affairs.
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Mursal Rahim MPA '25 is an Afghan scholar studying human rights and social justice in the Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy.
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“Lifting up one student will eventually lift up a family and a community. Cornell is doing what it can to help students find a pathway to a degree and a successful career. Similarly, scholars find a welcoming academic community and opportunities to teach and learn with breathing room to burnish a resume and seek longer-term employment and a secure future.”
~Nishi Dhupa, Associate Vice Provost of International Affairs
Support Us
Many scholars under threat may never return home and need support for research collaborations, new teaching methods, and career opportunities in the U.S. They also require assistance with housing, clothing, and education for their families. Students often need help with tuition, English language skills, academic writing, study skills, cultural adaptation, and essential services like housing, healthcare, and financial navigation.
The SUT initiative is primarily funded by the generosity of donors. To support us, please give a gift today or contact Nishi Dhupa by email or at +1-607-255-8935.