SUNY Old Westbury has an impressive group of alumni to call its own. One such notable person is Alhia D. Harris. As a 2013 graduate, Harris has taken her own experience from SUNY OW to form her own study abroad program for women of color.
Harris attended SUNY Old Westbury and received a BS in Business Administration. She worked on the Catalyst, the college newspaper, from 2010-2013 in various roles including Writer, Business Manager and Treasurer. She was also nominated for a Media Arts Celebration (MAC) Award during her time with the Catalyst.
In 2012, she was able to study abroad through the State University of New York at Stony Brook at the Chinese University of Hong Kong for their International Summer School Program. “I had the great opportunity to study abroad in China at the Chinese University of Hong Kong…” she said. “It was a really good experience in 2012.” Because she studied abroad, she has had the chance to visit India, London, and Denmark to meet up with her international friends she made while at CUHK.
While attending her study abroad program in Hong Kong, she realized that the program did not include many students of color. “Everyone else was either Asian or Caucasion,” she added. In 2017, her study abroad reunion with her friends in Denmark and Sweden motivated Harris to create her own program to help women of color to study abroad. She knew the impact that studying abroad had for her and she wanted others who looked like her to reap the benefits as well. Meeting new people, learning about different cultures and expanding your global network are some of the major takeaways from studying abroad, she said.
“People of color don’t have the opportunity to study abroad due to financial situations,” she said. “Having anything can help.”
Diverse International Women of Color, Inc., was founded on June 23, 2018 by Harris, who also serves as its President and Founder. It was also incorporated as a non-profit in 2020. Their mission is to inspire, encourage and promote opportunities for women of color to travel abroad, experience different cultures and broaden their horizons beyond the United States.
They believe “the lack of funds should not be an obstacle for a student to achieve their study abroad goal. Therefore, it is the vision of the DIWC to provide scholarships opportunities to women of color wishing to study abroad. DIWC wants to pay it forward and remind women of color that there is a way, an avenue, to take that leap of faith to go abroad. By studying abroad, students can define their personal goals, outcomes and potentially expand their knowledge of self,” as stated in their mission on their website.
In 2019, the first scholarships were awarded, and Alhia saved up her own money to award three people their scholarships and one scholarship was sponsored by a family friend.
In 2021, DIWC awarded eight scholarships. For 2022, DIWC plans to award four scholarships. These scholarships can be awarded to “women of color, [who] attend college in the United States, [have a ] 2.7 or higher GPA, and [who have been] accepted in a summer abroad program…” On the DIWC website, the 2022 summer abroad program winners will be notified on June 13 and they will distribute the awards to the winners on June 20.
To apply for a scholarship, applicants must complete an online application located on their website at DIWCFund.org, have a personal statement, a study abroad program acceptance letter, and an unofficial transcript. If chosen for the scholarship, recipients will need an official copy of their transcript.
Harris says future plans for DIWC include awarding more scholarships throughout the school year and establishing a Passport Sponsorship Program for high school seniors and incoming college freshmen so they obtain their passport to study abroad.
The DIWC accepts donations to contribute to the scholarships. Donations can be made at the DIWC GoFundMe Donation page. More information about DIWC’s goals can be found at their website at DIWCFund.org.
