Announcement: Katrina victims college scholarship for SEAsians
From: pamela.mcelwee@yale.edu <pamela.mcelwee@yale.edu>
Date: Feb 6, 2006 11:24 AM
Subject: [Vsg] Announcement: Katrina victims college scholarship for SEAsians
Dear VSG List-
I remember there being several discussions in the fall about those on the list
who have been helping Katrina-stricken areas and the SEAsian communities that
were affected. For those of you involved in this, please pass the following
announcement on. There is a college scholarship available this year for SEAsian
high school students from the affected areas to attend college. There will be up
to 20-30 scholarships in amounts from $500 to $2000 from the Nisei Student
Relocation Commemorative Scholarship Fund (see below). All details are on the
website: http://asu.edu/clas/apas/nsrcf.html
Please help pass the word around to affected communities and forward this
announcement widely if you can. The application deadline is coming up April 7,
2006.
Pam McElwee
More Info:
The Nisei Student Relocation Commemorative Scholarship Fund
In 1942, during World War II, Executive Order 9066 authorized the removal of
Japanese Americans from the west coast. Students?most of whom were born in
the United States?were forced to withdraw from high school and college and
move into internment camps.
In response to what they perceived as an injustice, several individuals began
The Nisei Student Relocation Commemorative Fund in 1942. This Fund provided
financial support for Japanese American students to leave the camps in which
they were interned and allowed them to attend college.
In honor of those who assisted them in the 1940s, some of the Japanese Americans
began the Nisei Student Relocation Commemorative Fund (NSRCF). Understanding
how relocation and cultural differences can sometimes be barriers to education,
the founding members decided that they wanted to provide scholarships to
Southeast Asian American high school students to attend college. Each year the
fund chooses a state for these one-time scholarships, and in 2003, they chose
Arizona as the site for the 2006 scholarship program.
In Fall 2005, however, Hurricane Katrina devastated communities along the Gulf
States, where several Southeast Asian American communities are located. This
natural disaster forced those families in the path of the hurricane or flooding
to evacuate their residences. The challenge these families now face in
rebuilding their lives and their communities is enormous, similar to the
challenge faced by Japanese American families when they exited the camps.
In the spirit of the original Student Relocation Fund, NSCRF will provide
scholarships this year (2006) to Vietnamese, Lao, Khmer/Cambodian, or Hmong
students in those areas of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi who were
affected by Katrina and are entering college this year. In this way the
national NSCRF committee, as well as the local Arizona NSRCF committee, seeks
to provide hope to these students that they can continue their education.
Application forms may be requested from:
http://asu.edu/clas/apas/pdf/nsrcfscholarshippacket.pdf
Complete applications require two letters of reference, high school transcripts,
a copy of FEMA correspondence with family, and an essay. The postmark deadline
is April 7, 2006.
Pamela McElwee
Assistant Professor of Global Studies
Arizona State University
Coor Hall 5648
pamela.mcelwee@asu.edu
(480) 727-0736 (office)