In the wake of the devastating loss felt by the academic community across Canada, the university has created a Memorial Scholarship Fund for Iranian Students to support incoming international students who will pursue Concordia studies.
(Project Closed)
Concordia Mourns
The tragic crash of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 in Iran on January 8, 2020 has taken the lives of 176 passengers, including 57 Canadians.
Most victims were members of Canada's higher education community – students, professors and university staff.
The Concordia community mourns the loss of two recent graduates of the Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Aerospace Engineering Masters program – Siavash Ghavouri-Azar, MASc 19 and Sara Mamani, MASc18 – who had just married in Iran.
The Concordia community extends its sympathies to the families and friends of all victims of Flight 752.
$50,000 start-up gift from generous donor
Gina (Parvaneh Baktash) Cody, MEng 81, PhD 89, a generous Concordia donor, has given $50,000 to support the Memorial Scholarship Fund for Iranian Students — and a further $25,000 has already been raised to create a $75,000 baseline for this initiative.
“Like countless other Canadians, I was heartbroken upon learning of the crash of Flight 752,” says Cody, who immigrated to Canada from her native Iran in 1979 to pursue a PhD in building engineering.
“I hope Concordians join me in supporting the Memorial Scholarship Fund for Iranian Students to help the next generation of students and to honour the victims of this tragedy.”
About the Fund
During the 2017-18 academic year, 9.1% of Concordia's international students cited Iran as their country of origin, forming the fourth largest cohort of the international student community.
International students face unique barriers when pursuing an education abroad — in addition to tuition and school supplies, they must budget for travel, as well as the expenses of living away from their families. English may not be their first language, limiting employment opportunities.
The Memorial Scholarship Fund for Iranian Students will help relieve some of their stress, and encourage the next generation of students to follow their dreams, while honouring those whose lives were so tragically lost.
