At least two college applicants from Nigeria received rejection letters from a Texas community college because of Ebola panic. Let’s note: Nigeria has had only 20 cases of the disease since July 20. The country has been so successful in containing the outbreak, the Centers for Disease and Prevention dispatched a team to learn its methods.
Ebola has, however, killed more than 4,400 people in neighboring Liberia. Perhaps Navarro College confused Nigeria with Liberia? African countries do look and sound so similar! The story:
Kamorudeen Abidogun, a medical engineer in Richmond, Texas, told CNBC that five family relatives in Nigeria were applying to Navarro College using Abidogun’s mailing address. At least two of the applications were denied.
“With sincere regret, I must report that Navarro College is not able to offer you acceptance for the Spring 2015 term. Unfortunately, Navarro College is not accepting international students from countries with confirmed Ebola cases,” the letter explained.
Tell @NavarroCollege ; Stop Ebola, Stop Discrimination! http://t.co/6upQGZjp7x. cc @renoomokri @lindaikeji pic.twitter.com/C4YbB3gwo7
— Idris Ayodeji Bello (@idrisayobello) October 13, 2014
An official has since apologized for any “incorrect information” that may have been dispersed to applicants—their rejections were actually due to a restructuring of the college’s diversity priorities:
“Our focus for 2014-15 is on China and Indonesia. Other countries will be identified and recruitment efforts put in place once we launch our new honors program fall 2015.”
