It is an unprecedented time: the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates more than 100 million forcibly displaced people globally. These numbers are expected to rise with a myriad of natural and humanitarian disasters – climate change, military conflict, and more. We are now living in a historic moment, where we can reimagine how refugees are protected, resettled and welcomed in different parts of the world.

On World Refugee Day, this Leadership panel entitled ‘Welcome Campuses: The Roles of Universities in Refugee Protection’ will highlight the growing role of higher education institutions in providing a wide array of refugee protection services from: housing, training, employment, social and legal services, and refugee ‘sponsorship.’ This is in addition to the traditional support that many higher education institutions offer to refugee-students through scholarships and enrollment opportunities, and to refugee and forcibly displaced faculty through special academic appointments. It will also touch on career and technical education, and its crucial role in the successful acclamation and integration of displaced persons into local workforces, economies, and social landscapes, and in building agency to advocate for themselves.

As more higher education institutions are mobilized across different countries, we may expect more refugee students, refugee scholars and refugee families to thrive, rather than simply survive, with the support of higher education ‘Champions.’