Next Voice: Through the Student Lens

The JNCL-NCLIS Student Advocate Blog provides the opportunity for American students to share their perspectives on the importance of language education and learning opportunities. The goal is to give students a way to highlight their experiences while also connecting with and reporting on the facts of any current issue affecting language education in the United States. We invite our readers to join us in listening to the voices of students as we work to support language learning for everyone.

All statements made by students are their own and do not represent the views of JNCL-NCLIS.

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Student Advocate Perspective:

Painting My Multicultural University Experience

For students across the country, attending university is one of their first opportunities to meet peers from around the globe. For me, coming from the rural woods of New Hampshire, stepping onto a university campus changed my life, providing me a glimpse into the true diversity of our world. Dorm hallways, dining halls, and even classrooms have become spaces for the facilitation of cultural exchange, without which so many corners of the world would remain unknown to me. In one day, I can meet someone from every continent, all of whom have unique stories and worldviews. In these same places, you can hear the echoes of the world’s languages, too, which warms my language-inspired soul.

The story of international students on college campuses hits close to my heart: my roommate is an international student. Hailing from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, he has introduced me to the diverse cultures that comprise India.  I’ve heard stories of his mother’s dosas and his childhood friends. He’s heard stories of my rural upbringing and my family stories. I remember, early on, he held out some coins and asked me to explain U.S. currency to him. Such a small experience, but significant to building our relationship. Throughout our time together, I have picked up on little phrases that he frequently utters on the phone in his first language, Tamil. Language exchange has permeated our relationship. We often use our very rudimentary Spanish skills to practice and converse in a new language, or we’ll teach each other small phrases (he in Tamil, I in French). It’s almost like, over the span of five languages, we’ve developed our own lingua franca.

My experience with linguistic diversity on campus extends beyond the walls of my room. One of my favorite memories of linguistic diversity on campus revolves around a shirt from the university’s language department; this shirt features word art with translations of “Hello” in dozens of languages. When I first got that shirt, I set out on a mission: to identify every language on the shirt. I talked to my friends (and their friends, too), classmates, and professors, in an effort to find someone who could identify and tell me more about each one. What I originally thought might take weeks only took two days. The new languages I encountered weren’t a disembodiment of letters and sounds, but rather a link to individual people. These people, these connections, were the true value of this shirt. These connections, many of which have developed into friendships, were facilitated by discovering the shirt’s languages, allowing me to glimpse into the depth of Stanford’s global experience.

The value of international students to a university community cannot be overstated. They provide the capacity to integrate new perspectives, ideas, cultures, and backgrounds into classrooms and community spaces. The journey from freshman roommates to best friends isn’t necessarily a universal story, but for me, it highlights the power of the cultural and linguistic exchange that a global student body brings – one that cannot be achieved without the inclusion of international students and their voices. 

The Trump administration has recently targeted international students for exclusion from U.S. universities which has sent shockwaves through the large international student body at my university. Here at Stanford, as reports of this and subsequent decisions made by the executive branch regarding international students hit campus, we have all noticed a shift in attitude: once linguistically diverse spaces became increasingly dominated by English-only conversations. One person noted, via an anonymous online forum, that they “don’t speak Spanish in public spaces anymore, just in case there [are] agents.” Another peer noted that he “fears speaking on the phone with his friends back home,” because he “never know[s] who might report him.” A fear of retaliation without justification permeates community spaces that once represented the university’s heart of multiculturalism.

By limiting the glowing and powerful presence of international students from our campus, we restrict the beauty of college experiences. As a domestic student, I see international students not as a threat to our nation, but as an opportunity to broaden my perspectives and engage in a global academic conversation. These students, just as those from within our country, deserve the opportunity of the life-changing experiences that higher education at these institutions provides. If the United States stands a chance at maintaining its powerful higher education system, it must return to a culture of acceptance and appreciation for international students. 

Our Student Advocate Reports on the Facts

Examining the Issue at Hand: International Students on U.S. College Campuses

For international students, attending universities in the United States presents a mechanism for social mobility. After working hard to achieve acceptance to these universities, students study among their American peers and feed into the system of knowledge that is fostered via classes, discussions, and campus life; then, these students can have a chance at stronger jobs, whether that be in their home country or the United States. 

According to the International Educators Association, the collective 1.1 million international students contributed $43.8 billion towards the U.S. economy in 2023-2024 while supporting 378,000 jobs. Competition for these international students is increasing, too, as universities outside of the United States rise in global rankings. At the same time, the number of high school graduates in the United States is starting to fall, leaving international students poised to take up the role of sustaining enrollment levels across the country. Systematically reducing and eliminating the presence of international students would fundamentally alter the university experience for the worse, and potentially collapse the system of higher education as we know it. 

Yet, over the past few months, the Trump administration has conducted mass removals of data from the SEVIS, which is a central database for tracking student visa information (see an interactive tracker from Inside Higher Ed here). The administration conducted these sweeping removals across the nation, citing various national security concerns. Thousands of SEVIS data entries were terminated over a week; many international students were plunged into fear over their visa statuses and their potential need to return home. The Trump administration provided little direction as lawsuits filled the court dockets. 

On April 25th, a lawyer from the Department of Justice (DOJ), representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), notified a federal judge in Washington that ICE would work on a system for removing SEVIS data. According to statements, this system would have a higher level of scrutiny than was used in the mass removals just a few weeks prior. Accordingly, the DOJ’s lawyer stated that students whose SEVIS data had been terminated should see their statuses reinstated if their visas had not been subject to termination. This reversal does not erase the immense damage the Trump administration has dealt to the international student system at universities across the country, though.

Recently, the administration presented a new plan during a court hearing in Arizona. According to experts, this revamped SERVIS-termination system would grant ICE and the Department of State unprecedented authority to conduct sweeping revocations. The preliminary documents even outline “non-compliance cases” in which ICE would be granted authority to operate without prior approval of the State Department. This proposal is likely to work its way through the courts in the coming weeks and months. Secretary of State Marco Rubio supported this by issuing his “one-strike” policy on visa revocations.

At Stanford, six students and two recent graduates had their visa status terminated in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) in early April. One of those students had their status reinstated later that month. According to University President Jon Levin, the cases of status revocation were idiosyncratic and did not reflect a targeted revocation. Reports on some universities have indicated that these revocations may have been more targeted at certain groups (see reports from Columbia, Tufts, and other California schools). Others have been consistent with Stanford’s case, where no apparent pattern is distinguishable (see the linked report from SUNY). 

Beyond a method of ensuring student compliance, the Trump administration has turned towards SEVIS, and the right to enroll international students, as a means to keep the institutions in line, too. In late May, the administration announced that Harvard University would be barred from enrolling international students “as a result of their failure to adhere to the law,” according to Secretary Krisi Noem. Additionally, international students currently enrolled would be required to transfer out before the fall semester. Harvard sued the administration over this order and was granted an injunction the following day. 

As Harvard’s case and many others travel through the courts, the higher education community is watching. As the Harvard administration said in its lawsuit, “[w]ithout its international students, Harvard is not Harvard." This sentiment holds true across all higher education institutions; without an international student body, U.S. higher education is not the same. International students are not a political tool, they are a valuable contribution to a flourishing system of educational opportunity and learning. 

To read more about the situation for international students on college campuses, here are some resources:

• What We Know (Inside Higher Ed)

• Who Are These Students? (ABC News)

• Impacts of Losing Students (New York Times)

• Fear Over Speaking Out (Washington Post)

• Travel Warnings (NBC News)

• International Students By the Numbers (NPR)

• Chinese Student Visas (New York Times)

Kaleb Houle-Lawrence

Kaleb Houle-Lawrence is a sophomore studying Education Policy & French Literature at Stanford University. He has been involved with JNCL-NCLIS since last summer, where he began his role as a Policy & Communications intern, where he works to maintain external communications with advocates and garner insights on educational policy development. He is passionate about extending quality education to all and plans to continue studying education beyond his years at Stanford.