KANSAS CITY, Mo. — University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod on Wednesday said he strongly condemns a new federal policy requiring international students to take in-person classes in the fall or risk losing their visas, calling the policy “truly mean-spirited and unworkable.”
“I write today to assure you that the University of Kansas joins peer institutions nationwide in strongly condemning this new federal policy,” Girod wrote in his message addressed to colleagues, adding that the university is working with both the Association of American Universities and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities to lobby lawmakers to reconsider "this truly mean-spirited and unworkable policy."
Girod’s message comes as two universities, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to prevent immigration authorities from enforcing the policy, which was announced Monday.
The rules say international students must take at least some of their classes in person. New visas will not be issued to students at schools or programs that are entirely online.
While Harvard and other universities have opted to hold courses online again this fall due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, others, including the University of Kansas, are instead planning to operate under a hybrid model, offering a mixture of online and in-person courses.
Barbara Bichelmeyer, provost and executive vice chancellor at KU, wrote to faculty and staff on Tuesday, asking them to consider international students as they determine instructional modes for their courses.
“As you assign instructional modes to your courses, please consider that your decisions ultimately determine whether our international students will be able to stay at KU, in the United States, or whether they must leave the country,” Bichelmeyer wrote.
Girod said the policy also could cause further damage to schools already struggling with financial losses due to the pandemic.
“To put it plainly, blocking and possibly expelling international students in the middle of their studies is inhumane, serves no one’s interests, and would set back the United States’ ability to attract the brightest minds to study here,” Girod said.
The University of Kansas has around 2,000 international students, according to Bichelmeyer.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report
