#YouAreWelcomeHere

The #YouAreWelcomeHere campaign is a social media and scholarship campaign affirming U.S. institutions are diverse, friendly, safe, and committed to student development and the U.S. welcomes students from all over the world. The first use of the hashtag in international education was by Study Group in their November 2016 video featuring six of their university clients. Spurred on by Study Group, Temple University created a very successful video of its own in late November. Beginning with her idea for Temple’s video, Jessica Sandberg, then director of international admissions at Temple University, saw a great opportunity to advance this concept into a national campaign for U.S. higher education. Jessica began to promote the idea across social and professional networks. Since the campaign’s initial inception, over 380 higher education institutions, 70 organizations and 20 secondary schools have joined the movement. Temple University transferred leadership and support of the campaign to NAFSA: Association of International Educators, effective June 1, 2019.

“The goodwill generated by #YAWH has been the highlight of my career and I am grateful that I was able to play a role in giving this campaign its start at Temple University,” commented Sandberg. “It has been incredibly rewarding to watch it evolve from a tiny grassroots project to the unofficial global slogan of U.S. higher education. This little idea has made quite a journey and I can think of no better destination for #YAWH than a permanent home at NAFSA. Under NAFSA's leadership, the future of the campaign and its important role in communicating the value of U.S. higher education across the globe is assured.”