BURLINGTON Vermont
When his family landed in Vermont three years ago, Rwandan refugee Jean-Luc Dushime didn’t speak English. Now, he’s in college on a full scholarship, and hopes to attend graduate school.
The credit, he said, goes to Champlain College, a private school with about 1,940 undergraduates. President David Finney was inspired by a documentary about refugees to established a scholarship program that helps them avoid the $24,000 annual tuition.
“Champlain College was the only school that gave me a full scholarship and was the only school interested to know me as a person,” the 27-year-old sophomore said.
The documentary, “Rain in a Dry Land,” is about refugees who flee to the U.S.
“Given what they faced when they arrived, which is basically about eight months of support and a handshake … I thought that Champlain could play a role,” Finney said.
Champlain is believed to be the nation’s only college program aimed specifically at refugees, said Roland King, vice president for public affairs at the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
