Notice Board

The Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA) presents a session discussing the successes and challenges of the student refugee program in Lethbridge.

Successes and Challenges for U of L Students Supporting Refugee Students

Date:                    Thursday, December 12, 2019
Time:                    Doors open 11:30 a.m., presentation 12 p.m., buffet lunch 12:30 p.m., Q&A 1 – 1:30 p.m.
Location:              Royal Canadian Legion (please enter at north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge
Cost:                    $14 buffet lunch with dessert/coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required

In 2016, students at the University of Lethbridge established a local chapter of the World University Service of Canada (WUSC). It is a Canadian international development non-profit organization dedicated to improving education, employment and empowerment opportunities for youth, women and refugees in more than 25 countries around the world. WUSC’s Student Refugee Program (SRP) combines refugee resettlement with opportunities for higher education.

The U of L WUSC program changes the lives of young people here and around the world. Crucial to the program’s success is its unique youth-to-youth sponsorship model which empowers young Canadian students to play an active role in the sponsorship of refugee students. At U of L, students play a critical role in both the financial support and the day-to-day social and academic support to SRP students. The speakers will describe the successes and challenges they’ve encountered along the way and give thoughts to what lies ahead.

Speakers:              Dr. Anne Dymond and Abdullah Mouslli

Anne Dymond, PhD, teaches art history and museum studies at the U of L. Her book, Diversity Counts: Gender, Race and Representation in Canadian Art Galleries (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2019) has been called "an impressive and sobering analysis of gender and diversity in contemporary art, and a compelling call for more inclusive curating." Anne is also active in the community. She is Co-Chair of the U of L's Refugee Action Committee and faculty advisor to the WUSC student club. Both these groups support and sponsor the emigration of qualified refugees to Canada. She was awarded the University's Senate Volunteer Award and the YWCA's Woman of Distinction Award for this work. Anne also sits on the Lethbridge United Way Board of Directors.

Abdullah Mouslli was the first refugee student to be sponsored by the WUSC ULeth local committee. He moved to Lethbridge in 2016 and is pursuing a combined degree in New Media and Marketing. Abdullah worked with Lethbridge Family Services as an Arabic interpreter, co-founded a social enterprise to empower newcomer women in Lethbridge, and has been the SRP coordinator with WUSC Uleth local committee which makes him the go-to person to help refugee students settling in their new home.

Moderator:         Jamie MacKenzie

For more information on the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs, visit the SACPA website.

At this session, SACPA will gratefully accept and double audience donations to U of L’s WUSC program.