IUP’s Office of International Education is being honored for providing a safe haven for an academic scholar from Afghanistan.
The honors come from the Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund Alliance. The award was presented to the office; Dr. Michele Petrucci, Associate Vice President for international education and Global Engagement and executive director of the American Language Institute; and Director of the International Student Scholar Services and the American Language Institute Emma Archer for their help “to preserve the life, ideas and work of a threatened scholar”, Dr. Abdul Habib Khalil. Khalil earned a doctorate of Curriculum and Instruction in 2020.
In a statement, Khalil said that he was grateful for the support of Archer, Petrucci and IUP President Dr. Michael Driscoll, and said the university has become an “invaluable and supportive institution”. Since 2020, because of the support from the IUP Office of International Education, 15 international students at IUP have been selected for the IIE Emergency Fund scholarship, which provides funding for students who face financial hardships due to emergency situations in their home countries.
