President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policies have landed on college campuses in recent weeks as universities began disclosing one by one that federal agencies have revoked visas from international students at their schools.
In attempts to quell students’ fears, some university leaders at schools across the country have shared estimates of the number of students impacted by the visa crackdown and pledged to check federal visa databases daily to keep their communities updated. GW needs to do the same.
The University joined the wave of schools announcing visa revocations last week, stating in a bullet point of GW’s weekly “Federal Update” email that agencies had terminated a “small number” of international students’ visas.
Unlike a handful of Ivy League schools, like Columbia and Harvard universities, and regional neighbors like Georgetown, the Catholic University of America and George Mason University — all of which provided specific numbers of affected students or “at least” estimates — GW left the community wondering what a “small number” truly means. Officials’ use of vague language to describe actions as grave as terminated student visas didn’t provide the transparency that the community was seeking.
When faculty senators pressed officials for the specific number of students affected at a meeting last week, University President Ellen Granberg said she didn’t know “all the details.” Provost Chris Bracey refrained from offering specifics beyond that the number of visa revocations was “split” between current and recently graduated students.
We know universities are often in the dark when it comes to visa revocations, as the Department of Homeland Security is not required to notify visa holders before revoking their documents. But even in these conditions of confusion and chaos, GW’s disclosure of information has been sparse compared to its peers and at times contradictory. If the University can estimate the proportion of alumni versus current students affected and feels confident in characterizing the number of students as “small,” the community at large has no choice but to assume that our leaders know more than we do.
As students across the country watch in fear as their universities cave under the Trump administration’s pressure, knowledge becomes the only currency we have. We therefore ask that GW’s leaders empower our community by providing as much information as they have. In practice, this looks like University officials defining what a “small number” is. If they cannot do so, they must offer an explanation for why it’s in the community’s best interest to stay in the dark.
In the face of a lack of communication from the Trump administration, Columbia and Harvard have both pledged to check the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System daily to monitor the number of revoked visas. GW’s International Services Office — which officials are directing affected students to — should match its peer offices at other universities by publicly offering to do the same. The University has resources and staff to collect and distribute this research that the average student does not, and as uncertain as the higher education climate is, GW must uphold this responsibility.
When GW joined the National Institutes of Health lawsuit combating Trump’s research cuts, Granberg sent an email to the community explaining the University’s stance and reasoning for joining the lawsuit. We’re asking for a similar level of communication when it comes to visa revocations — a prominent announcement directly from the desk of the University’s leaders — as opposed to a bullet point buried in an email with a vague subject line, like “Federal Update.” We want GW to align with other universities, like George Mason, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Emerson College, whose leaders sent out announcements directly with intimate verbiage and detailed specifics.
GW’s messaging on visa revocations doesn’t match its messaging against other executive actions, nor does it align with several university peers. The University’s lack of consistency fuels suspicions of secrecy, sowing doubt among the community that our leaders are prioritizing our security and safety. GW can’t be seen as a brave ally in the face of Trump’s attacks if it dulls the blades of our only weapons — information.
The editorial board consists of Hatchet staff members and operates separately from the newsroom. This week’s staff editorial was written by Opinions Editor Andrea Mendoza-Melchor, based on discussions with Contributing Culture Editor Caitlin Kitson, Copy Editor Lindsay Larson, Contributing Opinions Editor Madie Turley, Culture Editor Nick Perkins and Sports Columnist Sydney Heise.
