Student reactions to Nashville Refugee Situation

A student group, Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND) is helping to educate refugees in Tennessee. They all understand how important this is. DP

Submitted by Omar El-Khattabi

After welcoming thousands of refugees in the past several years, Nashville will soon become host to even more as some of the nearly 60,000 Bhutanese refugees make their way to the city, The Tennessean reported.

Nashville has become home to nearly 3,100 refugees since 2002 and is now ranked 28th in the nation for refugee resettlement, according to State Department statistics.

With a large population of Sudanese and Somalian refugees especially, several Vanderbilt groups have dedicated themselves to working with the refugee population and their families. With the recent influx of refugees into the surrounding area, more students have also become involved in the effort to help the refugees.

Senior Jennifer Hirsch, the president of Students Taking Action Now: Darfur, has spent much of her undergraduate career working to aid refugees all over the world to assimilate in Nashville. She said she has recognized an immense growth in student interest in helping the refugees around the city over the past few years.

She said she thinks the 400 students involved with STAND testify to the willingness of students to dedicate their time and efforts to a cause that requires immense patience but does not necessarily produce immediate results.

"It takes time to realize certain things - like just getting an English-learning refugee to learn how to spell simple words like ‘shoe' - is an accomplishment," Hirsch said.

Despite this growth, Hirsch does recognize that students are not as involved in refugee aid as they are with other organizations. She said she thinks this is due in large part to a lack of student awareness of the issue. Several students said they agree.
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