By: Lakyra Banks
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV) – The University of Arkansas partners with one local organization to donate bikes to international students.
The partnership between the U of A and nonprofit organization Pedal it Forward works to give international students a restored used bike, helmet and bike lock. Under the partnership, nearly 70 bikes have been given to students this school year.
“It’s really hard to fly across the world and not have transportation. So that was kind of where this partnership came from. They give us free bikes and we get to give them to international students. It’s great. It’s beautiful,” said Sloane Jeffery, an international student and graduate assistant for retention in the students and scholars office.
Jeffery said many international students tend to travel to the United States for college without any form of personal transportation once they arrive. Despite public transportation such as Razorback Transit, some internationals students said the buses are unreliable.
“I was taking the bus to places but it doesn’t go to many places. I don’t want to try to take the bus at night because, for one, the bus stops working as frequently and the bus is much slower at night,” said Prachi Bhutada, an international graduate student.
The partnership between the University of Arkansas and Pedal it Forward works to bridge the gap in transportation and give international students more accessibility to various areas with Northwest Arkansas.
“Having a bike here gives them not only the opportunity to move around, but a lot more autonomy than using the bus system because they’re not on someone else’s schedule and it makes their radius of accessibility wider,” said Jeffery.
For Richard Nyarko, a graduate student from Africa, receiving a bike through the partnership made him feel supported.
“I think that it shows how much they care,” Nyarko said. “I think what this means to me and other international students is the fact that it makes us feel supported and like we’re a member and it’s a really good thing.”
The partnership provided 38 bikes to international students last semester. Another, 30 bikes were donated in January. The university and Pedal it Forward plan to partner again in April to expand bike donations beyond international students.