Millersville University recently announced it has joined the Every Campus a Refuge network, committing to providing housing and resettlement services to refugee families.
Millersville is the first college in Lancaster County and the first in the State System of Higher Education to join the network. It is partnering with Church World Service Lancaster.
The university is getting started by hosting a Syrian family and plans to host more. CWS provides rent assistance and social services. The housing is separate from student housing.
Every Campus a Refuge was created by Diya Abdo, a second-generation Palestinian refugee and professor at Guilford College in North Carolina.
Universities are well positioned to support refugee resettlement, she explained in an appearance in Lancaster last year: They have housing and related resources, and incorporating refugee experiences into the curriculum offers opportunities for students to learn about global and local social justice issues and for resettled families to learn from them in turn.
“I am thrilled that Millersville University joined the ECAR network,” Abdo said in a statement. “I am deeply moved by the profound commitment to community and hospitality I have seen in everyone at Millersville — students, faculty, staff and administration — and to Church World Service Lancaster.”
Millersville Provost Gail Gasparich said the university is honored to be formally recognized as an ECAR chapter.
