On Aug. 22, the Oberlin Communications Staff officially announced their partnership with the Next Genius Foundation on their website. Established in 2014, the goal of the Next Genius Foundation is to connect talented South Asian students from Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India to colleges in the United States and provide partial or full scholarships to those students. In the last eight years, the nonprofit has awarded scholarships to 300 students totalling $38 million, with plans to award 200 scholarships in this upcoming year.
“We are incredibly excited to work with Next Genius to increase our visibility in India,” Associate Director of Admissions Joshua Levy wrote in an email to the Review. “We traveled to India this past August with [Next Genius] and have started making great connections with high schools and counselors around the country.”
The partnership was initiated over the summer of 2023, with a focus on broadening Oberlin’s recruitment efforts in South Asia.
Next Genius travels around South Asia, promoting their program to relevant high schools. Students then go through a round of interviews with Next Genius staff who select finalists. The finalists receive information about the 24 partner colleges and universities, including Oberlin, Bennington College, the College of Charleston, Syracuse University, and others.
“The students typically attend public schools that have a tradition of sending students to the U.S. so the style of education is familiar to them,” Levy wrote.
The program is made possible through partner colleges and universities, as well as private donations through Indian and American corporations. The implementation of the Next Genius partnership also broadens the diversity of the South Asian diaspora within Oberlin. College fourth-year and Co-chair of the South Asian Student Association Shivani Subramaniam is excited about the possibilities that the partnership offers for Oberlin.
“Sometimes [South Asian international students] don’t want to join SASA — they’re not necessarily interested in South Asian culture coming [to Oberlin], or they feel it’s inauthentic, … so it might not affect SASA’s diaspora,” Subramaniam said. “But overall, it’s really exciting to have South Asians coming in from a more diverse range of places, with more diverse identities, … [such as] class, caste, and region.”
The Next Genius Foundation’s focus on public schools in South Asia allows for a wide variety of students from different backgrounds to join Oberlin’s community. Though there is a focus specifically on public schools with a U.S.-based education style, there is an opportunity for more class diversity among the international students who attend Oberlin.
“This partnership with Next Genius will contribute to expanding Oberlin’s vibrant, global community and bring together people of diverse backgrounds and experiences to enhance our learning environment,” Levy wrote. “We can’t wait to see the students who apply to Oberlin and look forward to welcoming them to campus as new Obies in fall 2024.”
