We believe that education for justice and peace is a basic skill that must be universally nurtured.
Lin Nelson is a member of the Rachel Corrie Foundation Board of Directors and a retired member of The Evergreen State College faculty. Lin worked with student Rachel Corrie in the 2001-02 Evergreen program Local Knowledge. Read her reflections about that experience and about the importance of providing access to education for students around the world.
As one of Rachel’s teachers, I was witness to her path as a thinker, as a dreamer, as an advocate, as a person of conviction. One thing I noticed and respected in Rachel – she cared deeply about her own learning, while caring deeply about and supporting the learning of others. She paid careful attention to the students around her in her own classes and quietly urged them to persist, strengthen their knowledge, and make a difference. While in Palestine, she powerfully connected to young ones who deserve to learn, to make their impacts and to shape their world. Learning and activating that learning in meaningful ways is at the center of Rachel’s story.
Scholarships are one way that the Rachel Corrie Foundation is making a commitment to those who struggle to shape their education and their life’s work. Here in Olympia we support a student at Evergreen whose dedication to knowledge and justice spans the local to the global. At Birzeit University our support each year is directed to two women students dedicated to learning and giving back to their communities, under very difficult circumstances.
As a teacher who has learned from her students, I can attest to how much educational support is needed and appreciated. Scholarships can reflect cross-generational and cross-cultural signs of community, of mutual aid and of extending hope to others. Around the world, we need to offer much more to young people and aspiring students; scholarships are one glimmer of the work that needs to be done. Please join us in encouraging and sustaining students who want to cultivate their thinking and help re-shape the world.
RCF Educational Scholarships include the Rachel Corrie Memorial Scholarship, Birzeit University Women’s Scholarship Program, and funding support for young activists, individuals, and school groups seeking to develop and implement educational programming, attend a conference, or to support further educational efforts relevant to the RCF Mission and Guiding Principles.
