Nearly $10,000 has been raised in donations for the Iranian Student Memorial Scholarship Fund.
The fund was established in honour of Queen’s student Amir Moradi and the other victims of the Iran plane crash on Jan. 8. The fund, which had a donation tally of $9,690 as of Feb. 27, will be used to support Iranian students in need of financial aid.
“Our expectations were that we could certainly receive a considerable amount of support for the idea in principle,” Karen Bertrand, vice-principal of Advancement, said in an interview with The Journal.
Bertrand said the funds raised so far have been consistent with hopes she held when the fund was originally established in January.
“We have 90 donors that have contributed to the fund already, and they have raised collectively almost $10,000,” Bertrand said. “I would say [this] is consistent with fundraising for funds in memoriam of an incident or an individual.”
The fund will provide financial support to Iranian students in financial need, but Bertrand was not able to provide information on how many students will
be assisted.
“We are still actively engaging in conversation with the leaders in the Iranian community, and the Iranian student community,” Bertrand said.
Bertrand reported that the fund would be endowed, allowing people to continue supporting it in the future.
“I still strongly believe that by setting up this fund, even as time passes, that the sheer existence of the fund does protect the memory of people like Amir and others on that plane,” Bertrand said.
She added that she is optimistic that the broader impact of the plane crash will be remembered through the scholarship.
“There is an opportunity [through the existence of this fund] for us always to remember what happened and hopefully think about how to prevent it in the future,” Bertrand said.
Donations to the Iranian Student Memorial Scholarship Fund can be made through the Give to Queen’s website.
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