one small thing
Yes, it has been four years since that day. On April 13th, 2018, Nepali New Year’s Eve, the University of Texas at Tyler revoked full-ride scholarships it had previously awarded to 61 Nepali students.
The mountain
The university described it as “an administrative oversight.”
But the global education community knew that it was
an unprecedented admissions crisis.
The UT Tyler scholarships included tuition as well as room and board.
They were revoked after the US admissions cycle was essentially over.
Because of this unfortunate timing, Nepali students had already declined offers from other institutions they had been accepted to. And some students had already begun the visa process to attend UT Tyler.
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The movement
In the days following the scholarship revocation, Selena Malla, education advisor at USEF-Nepal, Kathmandu, issued a call on social media for support. Joan Liu, a university advisor at the United World College of South East Asia, Singapore, stepped forward to start a movement. A group of counselors from around the world formed a volunteer, ad hoc crisis team, known as
The Nepal Justice League (NJL).
The NJL galvanized more pro bono counselors to come forward to advise these students, and admissions leaders and institutions around the world stepped forward to offer these students a last minute seat. Fifty-four talented students are now finishing their final year of university in Australia, Canada, Germany, Nepal, Qatar, South Korea, and the United States.
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We wish to take a moment to celebrate these students, their families, their universities, and their graduation. Here are their stories.
