Mina

I have wanted to share Mina’s story, but I have hesitated. Not because I doubted it should be told, but because I wasn’t sure I could do it justice. Mina’s is a story of such immense compassion that it deserves to be remembered. I think of Mina often. Here is why.

I met Mina in my earliest months of serving as Senior International Officer. She was a graduate student in our Integrated Marketing Communications program, and she had some questions about a fundraiser she had started on Facebook. When she arrived at my office, she was radiant: full of life, poised, warm, driven, and funny. There was something so gentle and sweet about her, and also something fierce. Mina had a former colleague in Iran whose infant son had a serious illness and treatment was not available there. Mina, upon learning of the situation, launched a Facebook campaign to help raise funds for his medical evacuation and care abroad.

As she shared the story, I thought how remarkable she was in using her marketing skills and social network to try to save a life. Then came her question: “Do you know how I can send the money to Iran?”

Iran’s placement on the OFAC sanctions list severely restricts financial transfers between the U.S. and Iran. It’s one of the many invisible barriers Iranian students must navigate, just to study here, pay tuition, support their families, or offer help when it’s needed most. Mina knew this, but she hadn’t given up. I asked her how much money she had raised.

“Over $700,000 US,” she said quietly. Almost laughing at the enormity of it. I was stunned. Mina had raised almost three-quarters of a million dollars to save a child she had never met, because she believed in helping people. Because Mina was kind, and thoughtful, and full of love.

We began asking local accountants. No one knew how to make the transfer. Determined, Mina figured out that certain charitable organizations can make transfers to Iran, so she was able to send the funds through an organization. The funds were used to transport the baby abroad where his life was saved. It remains one of the most extraordinary acts of compassion and love I have ever witnessed.

Mina graduated with a Master’s in Integrated Marketing Communications in 2018 from the University of Mississippi. She and her husband moved to another state where they lived and worked and started their own family. In the cruelest twist of fate, Mina died giving birth to her second child.

Her Facebook page is now full of heavenly birthday wishes. And before those messages, her feed is full of joy: her family, her love of beautiful, soft things, and her deep love for and pride in her home country, Iran. She shared her dreams.

She made the world more beautiful just by being in it. She is missed, and she is still so loved. She made a difference.

The press release, with more detail, has been archived but is available here.

Story shared by me, Blair Thomson, with deep admiration and enduring gratitude for Mina’s light.