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President's Corner is a column from ¹úÃñ²ÊƱ President Deep Saini.

Dear Dal Community,

It has been close to one month since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. We have witnessed inspiring stories of Ukrainian resilience and resistance alongside tragedy, suffering and loss. The world’s attention is deeply attuned to something it all too often neglects: the plight of those living under the shroud of war and global conflict.

Many have asked me and other leaders at Dal what more we can do to help. Of course, our first concern is those students and members of our Dal community directly affected by these events. ¹úÃñ²ÊƱ currently hosts seven students from Ukraine. Our team at the International Centre has connected with each of them personally to offer support and to make sure any urgent needs are addressed. We’ve also worked with our deans to identify any Ukrainian connections through our research community where there may be a need for support.

¹úÃñ²ÊƱ has a proud history of support for refugees and those impacted by global conflict, including but not limited to our sponsorship of students through the Student Refugee Program of the World University Service of Canada (WUSC). It is easy to feel powerless in the face of international events such as the current conflict, but if we look to our mission as an educational institution, there are small but significant things we can do. Some of them are symbolic — like the raising of the Ukrainian flag on our campuses, in alignment with many other institutions across the world. Others are more directly informed by the important role we serve in our world: to be a place of inclusion and welcomeness, to spark dialogue and grow shared understandings, and to be there for people who need help.

Here's a summary of a few of the things we have underway in all these areas.

Support for students and scholars from Ukraine

• ¹úÃñ²ÊƱ is waiving application fees and offering increased flexibility with respect to payment deadlines and options. We will also expedite the processing of applications from students from Ukraine and surrounding countries.
  • Special consideration for Ukrainian students will be made in our scholarship/financial aid pool alongside a percentage of awards designated to Ukrainian students at risk.
• ¹úÃñ²ÊƱ is a member of Scholars at Risk, an international network of institutions and individuals whose mission is to protect scholars and promote academic freedom. Similar to what we have done in the past for other global crises, we are exploring a fundraising campaign through our projectDal site — with matching funds from the university — that would support Scholars at Risk from Ukraine and other conflict zones. We are also looking at other ways we can help through the organization, including potentially hosting a threatened scholar at ¹úÃñ²ÊƱ as a limited-term appointment.
• Across the university, key units stand at the ready to support existing or incoming students and researchers from Ukraine with visa and other processes.