Campus news

Student magazine to start scholarship fund with pop concert profits

Not every expatriate student in the UAE has the latest clothes or mobile phones. Not every undergraduate hangs out in shopping malls and cinema halls. Not every young man pulls out a fistful of money every time he dips a hand into his pocket.

Many students know nothing of life in the fast lane. They cannot afford to study in their dream colleges or take their favourite courses. Many bright young men and women do not get the education they deserve. Now, they have a friend.

A student journal has come forward to help students in need of financial aid, planning to set up a scholarship fund with the profits generated by a pop concert.

Campus Journal, a 44 cm by 34 cm (slightly larger than A3 size), glossy, 24-page, weekly newspaper for the expatriate student community, is hoping to raise money through the Blue concert scheduled in Dubai on September 26.

The British boy band with hits such as All Rise and Too Close, will perform at the East Hall of Dubai Airport Expo. The journal is the organiser of the concert.

"The tickets for the Blue concert have been deliberately priced at an affordable Dh50. We want students to feel a sense of belonging to the show, we want as many of them to come as possible. With the profits of the show we will set up a scholarship fund that will help students in need," said Jameel Qeblawi, CEO, addmedia, and the publisher of Campus Journal.

"This will be a fund that will grow year after year. We will continue to organise similar events," he added.

Myrna Ayad, senior editor, Campus Journal, has discovered a different world through her job.

"Working with this journal means spending time with students, either on campuses or in places where they hang out. We've come across a considerable number of students who are financially challenged. They can't afford to pay undergrad fees," she said.

"They either have jobs to fund themselves or they just don't get the education they deserve. This is where Jameel came in with the idea of raising funds. The Blue concert is totally non-profit and is aimed at the students."

Qeblawi is hoping to sell all 11,700 tickets. All proceeds of the show will be audited and published. The profits will be channelled to the fund.

"We are looking for students with high GPAs (grade point average) who have a proven record of financial need. We are learning from different university aid programmes and we will also get a database of deserving students from the universities.

"We will write about the scholarship fund in the Campus Journal and we will print application forms there as well. Once the applications come in, we will screen them," he detailed.

By using the journal as a vehicle, Qeblawi is ensuring the scholarship fund reaches out to the maximum number of students possible. Twelve thousand copies of Campus Journal are printed every week and distributed free to over 80 schools, colleges and universities in the UAE, he said.

"Our target readership is expatriate students between 15 and 23, high school, college and university students. We write primarily for English-speaking students. As an English language publication, we bring together different groups of expatriate students," he added.