The funding for 35 Libyan professionals enrolled in MSU’s Visiting International Professionals Program, or VIPP, was ended by the Libyan government late last week — leaving the students and university officials searching for strategies to avoid returning the scholars to their conflict-torn country.
The program teaches foreign students about communicating and interacting within English-speaking countries in addition to educating them in their field of choice, university spokesman Kent Cassella said in an earlier March interview.
MSU officials decided to continue the program through the end of the semester, said Dawn Pysarchik, senior associate dean for international studies and programs.
Under visa regulations, the students would have 30 days to remain in the U.S after the program ends.
Mohamed Gibril, one of the Libyan professionals enrolled in the VIPP, said the students were funded to the MSU program by the Libyan National Economic Development Board.
Many of the students have led protests against the Libyan government at MSU and in Lansing, he said. They would risk consequences — and the possibility of death — if they were to go home, he said.
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