The SUNY Chancellor discussed higher education concerns during a visit to the SUNY Plattsburgh campus this week.
The Trump Administration has been taking aim at colleges and universities across the county. It has canceled hundreds of million in grants and forced concessions by Columbia University after alleging the school had not responded to antisemitism incidents. At another high-profile university, Harvard faces the revocation of its tax-exempt status. Across the country, hundreds of international student visas have been terminated.
SUNY Chancellor John King Jr. said there are more than 18,000 international students attending colleges across the SUNY system and many in the Student Exchange Visitor Information System have received notice their visas have been revoked.
“This is something you're seeing across higher ed institutions around the country. The real worry is that the United States has had this incredible asset of a higher education system that attracts the best talent from around the world. It has helped to drive innovation in our economy,” noted King. “So it's very worrisome that we're seeing backsliding from our commitment to serving international students. I hope that the courts will step in. I also hope Congress will step in to ensure that the United States can continue to be a beacon of higher education for the world.”
About 80 international students attend SUNY Plattsburgh. Last Friday, college officials notified the campus that a student had been impacted. President Alexander Enyedi said their Global Education Office has been providing support to the student.
“Our focus has been 100% on supporting that student, providing them the best possible guidance and advice. But also providing them follow up care on campus and pointing them in the direction of how they can actually resolve and figure out what their next steps are,” Enyedi said. “So we will work on this one student at a time.”
Chancellor King also expressed concerns that the federal government is pulling grant funding for university research programs.
“I'm very concerned for SUNY and I'm concerned for the country. At SUNY we get about $700 million a year in federal grant funding. It's important to think about what those grants are for. It's for research on Alzheimer's, on cancer, the treatment of 911 first responders. It's research that's helping to drive the advanced manufacturing renaissance in the state, King explained. “So when you see the federal government backing away to advance innovation it's very frightening. It's frightening for our students, our campuses. It's frightening for the health of our economy and, frankly, for our national security.”
King added that the SUNY system is unable to fill gaps in federal funding.
“The challenge is the federal role in research really can't be replaced by the states or the private sector. It's such a large role. Think about your cell phone. Almost everything inside of your cell phone is a product of university research that was made possible by federal investments,” King said.
On Thursday, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Secretary of State and the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement demanding an explanation why student visas are being terminated.
