NBC – At least two students from Nigeria who applied to a Texas college were told they wouldn’t be admitted because of Ebola.
Kamorudeen Abidogun, a Texas man originally from Nigeria, said he received two letters from Navarro College, a two-year community college with a campus about 58 miles from Dallas. Abidogun has five relatives in Nigeria who were applying to the school and who were using his home in Richmond, Texas, as a U.S. mailing address, he told CNBC.
The college rejected the applications, citing confirmed Ebola cases in the country as the reason for the admissions decision.
“I received, last weekend, two rejection letters … saying the reason why they were not giving admission was … Ebola,” said Abidogun, who is a mechanical engineer. He said he was “disappointed” in the school’s stated policy.
A copy of the letter he provided to CNBC carries the signature of Navarro College’s international programs director, Elizabeth Pillans.
The letter begins: “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.”
Idris Bello, a Nigerian who lives in East Texas, tweeted a photo of the letter to bring attention to the situation. Bello, in an interview with CNBC, called the college’s purported policy “embarrassing.”
