Foreign Enrollment Declines at Universities, Surveys Say

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From:
Date: November 14, 2004 10:43:28 AM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: RE: [IP] Foreign Enrollment Declines at Universities, Surveys 
Say

Dave,

If you use this for IP please strip my address as I am concerned about
retaliation against xxxU. (I have changed the gender of
the two students, just in case.)

yyyy

While the numbers are very disturbing in themselves, the policy looks
even worse when you look at individual cases.  I teach at a business
school consistently ranked in the top ten.  We have a Chinese Ph.D.
student in my department who is extremely bright, came to us with
top-flight math and statistics skills, is hard working and a pleasure to
be around.  She is doing very well and I have no doubt will have an
outstanding career as an academic.  Her visa to study in the U.S. was
delayed for a year because of concern that she would not return to
China.  Well, there are not a lot of 20ish students who have families,
property, careers or whatever else it takes to convince the Consular
authorities that they are tied to their homeland.  She, and we, are
lucky that the visa was finally obtained.

A second case involves a young Chinese man who is in our MBA program.
While I have not had him in class, he seems articulate and bright and it
is hard to imagine him offending anyone in an interview.  He applied for
a visa seven times before it was granted.  That sort of persistence is
far from the norm.

What is INS protecting us against?  No serious, sober observer could
believe that either of these students posed a threat to the security of
the United States.  As far as I know, both have every intention of
returning to China.  However, that is really China's problem not ours.
I cannot imagine either of these two people doing anything but adding
value to whatever economy, and whatever country, they live in.

Education and academics thrive on diversity.  Since WWII, the U.S. has
gained innumerable benefits from having the World's best and brightest
come here to study.  My classes are enriched by the large number of
foreign students and the largest beneficiaries are the American students
in the room.  Second rate status comes with this sort of insularity.

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