College Creates English for Refugees Fellowship

Immigrant families like this one in northern Vermont stand to benefit from the English language teaching provided by Marlboro students, thanks to a partnership with USCRI. Photo courtesy of USCRI

In February, Marlboro College and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) signed a partnership to create the English for Refugees Fellowship. This inspiring fellowship will enable students in Marlboro’s MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) program to serve at one of six resettlement centers in the U.S., and to teach English to refugees and immigrants while completing their graduate degree.

“USCRI is a nationally recognized nonprofit that has worked toward protecting the rights of displaced peoples for over 100 years,” says Beverley Burkett, chair of Marlboro’s MATESOL program. “We are thrilled to be able to collaborate with them and support their mission while training educators who will make a positive contribution. We hope to develop a cohort of teachers who are sensitive to the needs of a population that has experienced the trauma of displacement, who recognize their resiliency, and who will support these people in creating dignified, independent lives in their new homes.”

Marlboro welcomed their first English for Refugees Fellows this summer, and marked their summer residency with a five-part speaker series on refugees in the U.S. The series included eminent authorities on the subject, ranging from Amila Merdzanovic, former refugee and now leader of the USCRI Vermont field office, to Lloyd Dakin, retired senior officer for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Learn more about the English for Refugees Fellowship.