FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |  March 9, 2017

Chambersburg, Pa. — When she was 13 years old, Samantha Jallah and her family fled to the United States as refugees to escape civil war in their home country of Liberia. Since then, Jallah has overcome many obstacles to forge a successful life and career in the U.S., but she hasn’t forgotten the atrocities of war that shaped her early life. “When you come from an environment like that, you realize how precious life is,” she has said.

Jallah and two other women who immigrated to the U.S., Maria Chesterton and Marcelle Giovannetti, will talk about their life experiences as immigrants at a town hall-style meeting sponsored by the Wilson College Department of International Scholar Services on Tuesday, March 21. The forum, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. in the Brooks Science Center auditorium.

“Aliens Among Us: Inspiring Stories of Women Who Survived War and Immigration” will include Jallah, Chesterton and Giovannetti – who represent three continents – telling their personal stories, followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience.

Jallah, a graduate of Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law who has more than a decade of experience in business and law, is the founder of Liberian Awards, a nonprofit organization that mentors and serves immigrant and minority students. Liberian Awards has also partnered with colleges to create a series of events like the one at Wilson that give immigrants and refugees a place to share their unique stories and to allow both natural-born Americans and other immigrants an opportunity to share their questions, concerns and fears in a nonpolitical environment.

Giovannetti is a former international student who was born and raised in India. After going through the immigration and naturalization process, she is now a U.S. citizen and is in the process of sponsoring her parents in their own immigration to the U.S. A passionate advocate for social justice, Giovannetti works with marginalized groups. She is as a licensed professional counselor at Messiah College and an adjunct instructor at Messiah and Shippensburg University.

Chesterton, who is from Argentina, immigrated to the U.S. around the age of 5. She recently retired from the Pennsylvania Office of General Counsel, where she served as senior counsel at the Department of Health.

According to organizers, Wilson College is happy to host a forum on refugees and immigrants at a time when the nation is grappling with controversial changes in policies, including President Donald Trump’s new executive order that temporarily blocks citizens of six countries from visiting the U.S. and suspends the admission of refugees for 120 days.

“Primarily, we want to have a non-political conversation about immigration and the refugee crisis,” said Crystal Lantz, Wilson’s director of international scholar services. “It is intended to promote a greater understanding of these topics through understanding personal experiences.”

MEDIA CONTACT:    
Crystal Lantz, Director of International Scholar Services
Phone: 717-264-4141, Ext. 2536
Email: iss@wilson.edu

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Founded in 1869, Wilson College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering bachelor’s degrees in 34 majors and master’s degrees in education, educational technology, special education, the humanities, accountancy, management, nursing, fine arts and healthcare management for sustainability. Wilson is committed to providing an affordable education that offers value to its students beyond graduation.

Located in Chambersburg, Pa., the college has a fall 2016 enrollment of 1,098, which includes students from 18 states and 16 countries. Visit www.wilson.edu for more information.