American College of Greece, US Embassy in Athens celebrate Education Unites 2023

Greece: The US Embassy in Athens and the American College of Greece “celebrated” at the ACG Events Hall the support they provided through the “Education Unites 2023” scholarship program to more than 40 refugee, immigrant and displaced students, as well as students at risk who are facing financial difficulties . The US Ambassador to Greece, George Tsunis was also present at the event in Greece.

Thanks to a $100,000 donation from the US Embassy in Athens and the corresponding financial contribution from the American College of Greece, more than 40 students from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Jordan, Syria, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ghana receive full scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate studies in fields such as Biomedicine , Philosophy, Graphic Design, Cinema, Aeronautics, Psychology, Information Technology and International Entrepreneurship.

The scholarships cover the spring and winter semesters of 2023, as well as the summer term.

At the event, the speakers as a whole highlighted the common values ​​that Greece and the USA share. – democracy, generosity, respect and protection of human dignity. Values ​​put into practice through the ‘Education Unites’ program and the access it gives young refugees to high quality education – and a better tomorrow.

During his installation, the US Ambassador in Greece, George Tsunis , said: “All of us at the US Embassy in Athens are very happy about our partnership with ACG , which aims to offer educational opportunities to refugees from the war in Ukraine. It is our moral and social obligation to help and stand by the people of Ukraine.

Together, we can open up a world of possibilities that will benefit everyone. We must all together secure housing for these young people and at the same time offer them the possibility of work and hope for a better life.”

Afterwards, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Greece, Sergii Shutenko , said: “It is my pleasure to address the young generation, which is the future. For more than a year, our people have steadfastly defended our country. Russia aims to erase our identity, deny our existence and history, and devalue our culture.

We fight for our future, they fight for someone’s past. Young Ukrainians are denied their rights to freedom, medical care and education. Ukrainian schools are under constant threat. We thank the teaching and administrative staff of ACG for ensuring that the Ukrainians continued their education. The future of Ukraine is in the hands of these students.”

In turn, the President of the American College of Greece , Dr. David G. _ Horner , stated:The foundation of American College of Greece dates back to 1875 in Smyrna as a girls’ school, for girls from the Greek, Armenian and Turkish communities of the city. With the destruction of Smyrna, our school as an institution turned into a “refugee”. We never forget that when we settled in Greece 100 years ago, we too were refugees in immediate need of help.

In 2016, the Education Unites program was established in collaboration with the US Embassy in Athens to address the challenges of the refugee influx in Greece, as, at the time, only 1-3% of refugees had access to higher education. This year, again in partnership with the US Embassy, ​​Education Unites has expanded, with the inclusion of about 20 students from Ukraine , in addition to the students we already have enrolled from Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and various African countries

Afterwards, some of the students who received scholarships under “Education Unites 2023” talked about the push they received thanks to the program to re-plan their future and envision their own contribution to combating the challenges and pathogens they faced obstacle to themselves and their communities.