Lockerbie Scholars could stay longer than 1 year with scholarship
Photo/Mark Nash
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In the past three years, two Lockerbie Scholars chose to stay at Syracuse University beyond the one year of their program. The university does not prohibit the scholars from staying after their one-year full ride is up, but there is not necessarily any extra help given to the students either.
As international students, Lockerbie Scholars are not allowed to apply for government aids or loans. Oftentimes, this keeps the scholars from being able to stay. But Syracuse University exalts the Lockerbie Program, and it holds a close connection with remembering the Pan Am Flight 103 tragedy. Officials must try to do more to help Lockerbie Scholars stay.
One way to accomplish this would be to set up a fund that can help ease the financial burden on the Lockerbie Scholars if they wish to continue their education here. SU has shown to be very successful in fundraising recently — see the billion-dollar campaign — and has the skills and tools to do it.
Officials could raise money by specifically targeting former Lockerbie and Remembrance Scholars or other alumni with ties to Scotland and Lockerbie. Groups like Lockerbie Trust, a Scottish charity which helped form the original scholarship, could also get involved and help promote the fund. The money could then be turned into scholarships specifically for the Lockerbie students.
To keep the program sustainable, specific guidelines must be set up for Lockerbie students wishing to use the funds. It would not be asking too much to have the scholars write an essay detailing why they’d like to stay, a GPA requirement could be put into place and students must be on track to graduate within four years if they wish to use the fund.
The scholarship would help provide a way for Lockerbie Scholars to stay here if they wish. The scholars could apply for other merit-based scholarships and rely on savings, like other students already do. But a specific scholarship for a program so highly valued by Syracuse University would be a tremendous benefit.