UPDATE: The six students are headed home!
The petition organizers confirmed this, writing:
All six students are completely healthy and will be departing Monrovia, Liberia on August 17. We would like to thank the entire Tuskegee family, as well as all others that supported!
Tuskegee also sent out a confirmation to the TU community, stating:
Dear Tuskegee University Community,
Tuskegee University has confirmed return flight details for the six students delayed in Liberia. The students will depart from Liberia on Aug.17 and then travel from Accra, Ghana to the U.S. on Aug. 18.
The students are currently housed in a safe location and university officials are in contact with them daily. Again, there have been no signs of illness reported amongst the students.
“We are please that the matter of securing our students’ safe return has progressed exponentially. Despite the delayed start to their fall studies, the university is working with academic officers to ease the transition of our students into the semester, which begins Aug. 20. We are grateful to our Liberian host for ensuring the care and safety of our students during their study abroad experience.” – Brian Johnson, Ph.D., Tuskegee University President
The university will continue to provide more updates as they become available.
See the original story on the next page.
According to Tuskegee University, six students went to Liberia to help serve as mentors at an African American Methodist Episcopal bridge program, but since the Ebola virus has become a national scare, British Airways has cancelled all flights flying to and from the country.
A Change.org petition has been started to bring the students back to the states.
It reads:
This petition has been written from the concerns of the Tuskegee Students. As of August 5th, British Airways has officially cancelled all flights flying to and from Liberia until August 31st. There are 6 Tuskegee University students stranded in Monrovia, Liberia that need to be brought home. Amongst them are graduating seniors and scholars. The extremely deadly Ebola outbreak is presently occurring in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. This set back has hindered their studies towards their missionary work, which is the primary purpose of their trip. Forcing these students to stay any longer than necessary is putting them all at risk and is unconstitutional. Help pass this petition so that they may safely return home to their families. PLAN OF ACTION: All Tuskegee students be sure to tweet the US Embassy, British Airways, and TU Alumni with power(Tom Joyner, etc.) to notify them of the current situation and this petition. Please hashtag #SkegeeInLiberia.
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(Photo Source: Tuskegee University)
