After a Google search led Shur Gopal to North Greenville University in 2001, he began a nine-year quest to become a U.S. citizen. On June 8, in Charleston, the United States granted citizenship to the Madras, India, native. Some might say it’s just a standard struggle through routine red tape. Others believe God was at work.
Gopal came to North Greenville to teach in August 2001, a move that left his wife and daughter thousands of miles behind. Gopal, who has years of experience in the radio and television industry, was eager to apply for a teaching position he found online. The university’s motto, “Where Christ Makes the Difference,” immediately caught his eye, and he decided to forward his r?sum?.
From left: Cathy Sepko, dean of North Greenville University’s college of humanities; Shur Gopal, and Linwood Hagin, mass communication department chair, celebrate Gopal’s becoming an American citizen.North Greenville officials were eager to hire him. They offered him the job in May and wanted him to begin teaching in August, but there was a snag. After checking into applying for a temporary work visa, the school learned it would take at least 180 days to receive one, and it was 90 days before the fall term started.
Gopal and his family began praying for a solution. Gopal’s brother, a physician in Florida, found a new process on the U.S. immigration website that would expedite the process. The school was alerted to the new option, and, with the help of Congressman Jim Demint, secured the visa within four days.
Once Gopal had his work visa, he needed to book his flight. He was told by the airline that every flight for the next four months was sold out and a long waiting list for each flight had already been started. He asked the agent to issue him a standby ticket, even though 78 passengers were on the list ahead of him. Within two hours, the airline called to inform him he had been confirmed for the flight. A group traveling together could not all be confirmed on that same flight, so the entire group had canceled.
Gopal arrived at the NGU campus Aug. 30, only 10 days after the term had started. His work visa was valid for three years. He immediately began working toward receiving his green card, which would allow him to work in the States for five years. Ninety days before the green card would expire, he could apply for citizenship.
Gopal was well prepared for his citizenship interview. “My interview, which normally takes 45 minutes to an hour, took only seven minutes,” said Gopal. Within a week he was given his date of citizenship: June 8, 2010.
His dean, department chair, and a colleague attended the confirmation ceremony with him. “I was so happy to be present as Shur became an official citizen of the United States,” said Cathy Sepko, dean of the college of humanities at North Greenville. “It was quite a moving experience.”
A few years ago, Gopal and Sepko had visited their friend, Dee Bielecki, a retired humanities professor, in the hospital. They spent two hours reminiscing about their times together at NGU.
“As we prepared to leave her room,” Sepko said, “Dr. Bielecki stopped Shur to ask him one more question: ‘Shur, where are you in the process of becoming a citizen? You are going to do that, aren’t you?’ He assured her he was.
“The last words that either of us ever heard her speak were, ‘I’ll be there with bells on when you do.’ None of us knew she would leave this world in a couple of days,” Sepko said. “As I watched Shur raise his hand to take the oath of allegiance, tears came to my eyes as I remembered her words.
“Apparently Shur had been thinking the same. At the end of the ceremony when he came over to give me a hug, he remarked, ‘Dr. Sepko, don’t you think Dr. Bielecki is around here with us today?’?”
The university will hold a celebration reception on the campus for Gopal when school resumes in August.
“I am so blessed to be an American citizen,” said Gopal. “I owe all of this to the Lord. He worked it all out for me.” – NGU