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An Afghan scholar and refugee conducts research at the University’s Susan B. Anthony and Mt. Hope Family centers.

Less than three years ago, Baitullah Hameedi held a secure position on the faculty of Kabul University. But after the Taliban returned to power in the aftermath of the United States military鈥檚 withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, he fled, along with nearly 3.6 million other Afghans in the year that followed.听

Now he鈥檚 a visiting scholar at the Susan B. Anthony Center, a position he holds through the 2023鈥�24 academic year.

Hameedi applied for the role through , an international network that works with universities to find sanctuary and temporary appointments for scholars whose lives and careers are at risk in their home countries. The catch, however, is that universities must fund the positions themselves. In 2021, the University, which is an institutional member of the network, established the Global Emergency Response Fund, or 鈥淕ERF,鈥� with initial funding from Board of Trustees Chair Richard Handler 鈥�83 and the Jefferies Group, the company he leads. So far, the fund has enabled positions for Hameedi and a small number of other Afghan scholars, and support and scholarships for students fleeing war and natural disasters.听

Hameedi began a perilous journey to the United States and on to Rochester on August 31, 2021. At 2:43 p.m., a WhatsApp message from an unknown European number buzzed on his phone. 鈥淭here is a possibility to leave today,鈥� it read. 鈥淵ou should receive information soon.鈥�

The text, from a French nonprofit, set in motion a harrowing escape, from Kabul to the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, to a chartered flight that took him, his wife, and two young children to Doha, Qatar, and then eventually to a US military base in New Mexico where they lived for two months in a sprawling
refugee camp.

鈥淚n Afghanistan we have smartphones, we have cars, we have streets,鈥� Hameedi says. 鈥淏ut when you think of the development of society, we still live in the 19th century. Overall, our culture hasn鈥檛 yet caught up with modernization.鈥�

Hameedi attended Jamia Millia Islamia, a university in New Delhi, for a master鈥檚 program in convergent journalism. It was in India that he first experienced a democracy, in all its complexity, at work. In 2017, he returned to Afghanistan and was promptly hired as a multimedia instructor in Kabul University鈥檚 nascent communications department.

With the advent of social media in Afghanistan, made possible after the temporary end of Taliban rule in the early 2000s, Hameedi enthusiastically embraced the greater freedom of expression it enabled. He became vociferous on Facebook, posting several times a day on the virtues of democracy and the need to educate women.听

Before the Taliban鈥檚 return in 2021, the first cohort of communications students鈥攎ale and female鈥攈ad been set to graduate the following year鈥攖o Baitullah鈥檚 immense pride. As he prepared to leave, he knew that the young women among them wouldn鈥檛 be able to complete their studies.听

鈥淎s a female student in Afghanistan, you鈥檙e not just fighting for good grades. You鈥檙e fighting the extremely patriarchal education system, often your own family, and also society鈥攅very time you step out the door,鈥� Hameedi says, describing women鈥檚 challenges even before the Taliban regained control.

In the classroom, he often had to walk a fine line, respecting religious beliefs while carefully guiding his students toward asking critical questions, including who stood to benefit most from perpetuating female stereotypes in Afghan society.

This year at the Anthony Center, he has been helping with a research project involving victims and survivors of intimate partner violence. In addition, two days a week, he works at the University鈥檚 as a cultural broker within a trauma therapy team that supports refugee students in upstate New York. He has developed resources to help families recognize the signs of mental听 health problems and understand the American school system and how to navigate it to support their children鈥檚 education. He also works with schools to foster cultural understanding.听

鈥淪ometimes American teachers say the students from Afghanistan will not look at them, interpreting the lack of eye contact as shiftiness or a sign of disrespect,鈥� he says. Yet the opposite is true. 鈥淭o look a teacher or a parent directly in the face is very disrespectful in Afghan society.鈥�

鈥淲e are fortunate to host him,鈥� says Anthony Center Director Catherine Cerulli. 鈥淗aving Baitullah as a visiting scholar has been a remarkable experience for our students, staff, and faculty,鈥� she says. 鈥淗e speaks with the wisdom of an old soul, the heart of a fierce social justice advocate, and as someone with the lived experience of a harrowing journey to America.鈥�

Once his appointment at Rochester ends, Hameedi is hoping to enter a PhD program in media and communications. He is keen to ensure that his family, and especially his wife, Yasamin, and their 11-year-old daughter, continue to receive a solid education. Yasamin is taking English classes in Rochester and plans to go back to school for a high school diploma or GED. Their daughter is now in 6th grade. 听

According to Hameedi, his wife is at once in awe of 鈥渉ow powerful American women are in so many ways鈥� and yet intimidated by the idea of holding down both a job and running a household.

鈥淚 tell her 鈥榠t鈥檚 not only the women doing the cooking or taking care of the family. Men do this here, too. It鈥檚 culturally accepted. Men are expected to be active partners.鈥欌�夆��

This story was originally published in the spring 2024 issue of Rochester Review, the magazine of the University of Rochester.