University of Kentucky president reassures students targeted in Trump directive
A Trump administration directive that will essentially bar international college students from the United States should their institutions not have in-person classes this fall has created an “air of uncertainty” among University of Kentucky international students, the school’s president wrote in an email on Thursday.
UK plans on having largely in-person classes, and will be unaffected by the directive, President Eli Capilouto wrote. But the university will join with a number of other university presidents in voicing their concerns to the “appropriate federal officials” who are responsible for putting the policy in place.
“Our plan continues to be to return in August to a robust, residential campus experience,” Capilouto wrote. “From our initial review of schedules, plans for a majority of classes are focused on in-person instruction. Of course, many students will learn in a mix of ways — in-person classes, online or hybrid approaches.”
Nationally, the Trump administration’s guidance — that would allow for international students attending online-only schools to be stripped of their visas and deported — has caused headaches for colleges opting for exclusively online courses out of concerns over the country’s once-again ballooning number of COVID-19 cases. Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute for Technology sued the Trump administration in federal court on Wednesday.
“I fear it will further create the perception that we are not welcoming and that we do not value the contributions of international students to our community,” Capilouto wrote about the Trump administration policy. “At the University of Kentucky, nothing — nothing — could be further from the truth.”
UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said the university enrolled 1,545 international students last fall. He added that it’s possible that number could be lower this fall, but the university is still enrolling students.
Capilouto wrote that the university’s International Center, the on-campus department responsible for bringing in international students, has been reaching out to the university’s international students to reassure them.
LEX18 reported on Wednesday that international students looking to attend Transylvania University were also anxious over the federal directive.
Centre College spokesperson Michael Strysick told the Herald-Leader in an interview on Tuesday that the university plans on having in-person classes and that international students — which in past years has made up close to 10 percent of the college’s population — should be able to attend this fall without disruption.