- Refugees worldwide offered scholarship for Hilbert College Global online courses -
HAMBURG, N.Y. – Hilbert College, along with a number of other colleges and universities, will award Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy an honorary degree at the 2022 Commencement ceremony. Hilbert also established a full scholarship to provide refugees the ability to enroll in online coursework through Hilbert College Global.
Zelenskyy, who will be recognized in absentia, has demonstrated thoughtful leadership and tremendous strength and perseverance since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
“This award recognizes what President Zelenskyy has done to motivate the collective courage of his own citizens and the broader world in defense of freedom and democracy,” Hilbert President Michael S. Brophy, Ph.D. said. “It is hard to imagine a greater role model to present to our students at graduation.”
Ukrainian refugees worldwide will be offered the ability to enroll in Hilbert College Global courses for non-degree study this summer on full scholarship. Additionally, Hilbert will offer this scholarship to Afghan refugees. Hilbert College Global is the college’s online division. More details on Hilbert’s Refugee Scholarship are available here.
“This small gift is one way we can contribute to our generation's greatest humanitarian crisis,” Brophy said. “In the same spirit, we will also offer this opportunity to Afghan refugees as well, many of whom have suffered from yet another crisis in a different part of the world.”
In an article published in Inside Higher Ed titled “A Pile of Honorary Degrees for Zelenskyy,” participating college and university presidents reflected on Zelenskyy’s “example of dauntless leadership” for the Class of 2022. In the article, Brophy comments on the Ukrainian president’s noticeable tie to the liberal arts, “Zelenskyy spoke to our identity as a liberal arts college.” Brophy went on to say that when Zelenskyy was making the rounds asking for NATO support, “he clearly was going home every night and rewriting his speech to fit Germany, to fit the U.S., to fit Britain. And the faculty definitely noticed that.” Read the Inside Higher Ed story here.
Hilbert College, located in suburban Hamburg, N.Y., south of Buffalo, is a private four-year college founded in 1957 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition. With over 800 students, Hilbert is a dynamic Western New York college that offers career-focused majors, including one of the top criminal justice programs in the region, and more than 50 minors and concentrations. The college’s engaging, student-centered campus community offers numerous leadership, internship, and service learning opportunities from which students launch successful careers while making positive changes in their communities. The Hilbert Blueprint promotes a well-rounded student experience over four years – starting with the Foundations Seminar in the freshman year, followed by Sophomore Service, Junior Symposium, and culminating with the Senior Capstone. Hilbert has expanded its academic offerings with the college’s first graduate programs in criminal justice administration and public administration, including a track in health administration.