He completed a master’s degree in Gender Studies at the Faculty of Humanities. As an international student, he experienced firsthand the challenges people face when arriving in a foreign country. American-born Mitchell Hoffman chose to stay in the Czech Republic and decided to help other international students so that financial difficulties would not stand in the way of their studies at Charles University. Mitchell Hoffman became the first donor to the International Students Fund at the Charles University Endowment Fund.
What personally led you to your decision to support the International Students Fund at Charles University? What were your motivations?
My primary motivation was my connection with the Gender Studies program. I also help with newcomer welcoming events, showing new students around and giving them a point of contact before they start.
I learned about increasing tuition costs for international students at Charles University and saw an opportunity to help bring them back into the realm of possibility for more people. People like me who want to study abroad and do something meaningful they might not be able to do in their home country. I also wanted to create something with a lasting legacy.
Education is one of the most important things you can do in your life. It changes how you think, how you see the world, and how you interact with others. It allows you to contribute by creating new knowledge and I want others to have that opportunity too.
Why do you think it is important for Czech universities to actively support international students? You mentioned connection and mutual enrichment by knowledge. According to your experience, which other key benefits of internationalisation would you point out as most significant?
It’s important for the global academic community to have more seamless transitions across borders so the students are able to share ideas freely and move between programs. This creates opportunities based on the suitability of the program, rather than being limited by cost, national politics, or borders disrupting that kind of discourse.
It’s also important for Czech universities, as it helps bring in foreign talent they might not otherwise have. At the same time, it benefits prospective international students by giving them opportunities they might not otherwise have access to.
I think it’s in everyone’s mutual interest to increase internationalisation. A local public institution can remain strong and active without limiting its student body to only local students or only those with sufficient financial means. Otherwise, there is a risk of becoming too narrow and closing off opportunities on both sides.
What does it mean to you personally to be part of someone’s educational journey, even if you may never meet them? What would you say to those who will benefit from your support in the future?
I hope they are able to do what they want to do, no matter what. And I wish them to have the drive to pursue something that is intrinsic and valuable to them.
Whether or not you’re enrolled in a university program doesn’t dictate whether you’re a student, but it does help you access resources and gain recognition for the work you’re doing. Since I’ve graduated, that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped studying, learning, or producing knowledge.
Whether or not you publish, are officially part of a project, or are enrolled in a class doesn’t make your knowledge less valuable. But when it is shared – when it can be published, when it can become part of your degree or your career – that’s something that can change society for the better.
As someone who entered a new academic, economic, and social environment, what were your biggest challenges as an international student in the Czech Republic? And what do you hope your donation will help achieve?
My personal journey had a lot of challenges. Some specific to me and others shared by most international students. One of the main ones was financial limitations. I had to live within a very precarious and uncertain budget and constantly think about what I could afford.
Having a study stipend means living within a certain range of means while also maintaining a certain level of success to keep it. If you lose that support, you don’t know where the next one will come from. That creates a constant level of stress and anxiety, and when you’re thinking about that all the time, it’s not the best environment for intellectual work or for applying what you’ve learned.
There are also cultural and language barriers. When you move somewhere new – especially internationally – you often don’t have contacts, you don’t really know anyone, and you have to start anew. That can be an opportunity, but it also means you don’t know how to access institutions, where to get help, or what the requirements are. Even something very simple can become a major disruption.
When it feels like there is no clear solution, or you’re not sure how to find it and just have to take a leap of faith, that creates a level of insecurity I wish students didn’t have to face. Many are encountering these challenges for the first time, at a stage when they already have something else that should be their main focus.
I also don’t like the idea that financial well-being, mental well-being, and social integration are in conflict with studying. They should be harmonious and support each other. And I believe they can be.
I was hoping that having a program like the International Students Fund available would give students that support and some relief so they have the means to focus on motivating themselves, getting to class, doing the work, and being active participants without constantly thinking about everything else.
In the Endowment Fund, we primarily receive donations from large donors, such as companies, and we are also looking to further engage smaller donors like alumni and the general public. What would you say to encourage them to contribute? And in a time when public funding for universities is declining, do you think society as a whole can help build and sustain a more resilient educational system?
Yeah, that’s a tough one. I think that ordinary people collectively actually have a lot of power, and it can mean even more when they choose to support something. Not just through lobbying governments, but through their own contributions.
People often underestimate how far even a very small amount can go. Small acts of kindness and small contributions can have a long-lasting effect, especially when they build on each other across a large number of people.
I think most people support the idea of strong, resilient educational systems or at least they can see the benefits of having educated people in society and having education accessible. But if they’re not very aware of the underlying problems, they might not see the urgency or how critical it is to take action and contribute.
