Texas College Rejected Nigerian Students Because Ebola

A Muslim Hajj worker look at an Ebola campaign poster at the Hajj camp during a screening for pilgrims at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria Thursday, Sept, 18. 2014. ( AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
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At least two students who applied to a Texas college from Nigeria received letters from the school stating that their applications were rejected because the college “is not accepting international students from countries with confirmed Ebola cases.”

Kamorudeen Abidogun, a mechanical engineer who lives in Texas but is originally from Nigeria, told CNBC on Tuesday that he allowed two of his relatives in the West African country to apply to Navarro College using his home address. He said he was “disappointed” to read Ebola listed as the reason for their rejections.

A copy of the rejection letter provided to CNBC was signed by Elizabeth Pillans, Navarro College’s international programs director.

African activist Idris Bello, who says he’s a friend of Abidogun’s, circulated a copy of the rejection letter on social media:

Navarro College posted a statement to its website Tuesday apologizing for any “misinformation” that applicants received. The statement pointed out that the school is currently hosting 100 students from Africa but did not mention Ebola.

“Our college values its diverse population of international students. This fall we have almost 100 students from Africa,” the statement read. “Unfortunately, some students received incorrect information regarding their applications to the institution. As part of our new honors program, the college restructured the international department to include focused recruitment from certain countries each year. Our focus for 2014-15 is on China and Indonesia. Other countries will be identified and recruitment efforts put in place once we launch our new honors program fall 2015. We apologize for any misinformation that may have been shared with students.”

Nigeria, which is the most populous country in Africa, is being held up as a model for how to stop the Ebola outbreak from spreading further. The country has seen just 20 confirmed cases and will be declared “Ebola-free” by the World Health Organization if no new cases emerge by Monday.

h/t Inside Higher Ed

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