Navarro College rejects Nigerian students, cites Ebola ‘concerns’

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A Texas college is receiving criticism for sending rejection letters to Nigerian applicants stating that, “Unfortunately, Navarro College is not accepting international students from countries with confirmed Ebola cases.”

The letters appear on official Navarro College letterhead and are signed by the two-year college’s director of international programs, Elizabeth A. Pillans.

There have been no confirmed new cases of Ebola in Nigeria since September 8, according to NBC News. Tuesday, however, saw the second confirmed case of the disease amongst Texas healthcare workers. There are a reported 75 healthcare workers at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who helped treat Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who died of Ebola on October 8. The CDC and local officials are currently monitoring these individuals for signs of infection.

In a post on the college’s website, the school attempted to explain its actions, writing:

Our college values its diverse population of international students. This fall, we have almost 100 students from Africa. Unfortunately, some students received incorrect information regarding their applications to the institution.

The post goes on to explain the mistake by saying:

As part of our new honor’s program, the college restructured the international department to include focused recruitment from certain countries each year. Our focus for 2014-15 is on China and Indonesia. Other countries will be identified and recruitment efforts put in place once we launch our new honors program fall 2015. We apologize for any misinformation that may have been shared with students.

In other words, ‘Our bad.’

A Nigerian entrepreneur living in Texas tweeted a photo of the letter and also wrote, “Tell @NavarroCollege ; Stop Ebola, Stop Discrimination!”

The entrepreneur, Idris Bello, told NBC News that the letter was “embarrassing.”