KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The pandemic has put higher education institutions in a tough spot.
Moving to online-only classes would mean all international students would be required to leave the country, according to Immigration Customs Enforcement.
“It was shocking for us to hear that in the beginning, in the beginning I didn’t believe it because this is something that I would have never expected coming here,” Park University student-athlete Nada Meawad said.
Nada and Noura Meawad are from Egypt. The two have been studying business at Park University for three years while playing on the women’s volleyball team.
As the pair prepare for their senior year, they told 41 Action News the announcement from ICE was unsettling.
“We are just so scared and so sad because we want to enjoy, we want to play," Noura Meawad said. "We want to play our senior year and we want to do something for Park.”
ICE announced that international students would have to return home if their schools switched to online-only courses.
With an eight hour time difference between the U.S. and Egypt, the Meawad’s said it presents another problem.
“The time difference is huge and then contacting our professors and classmates and all that, we have to make sure that everything is at the same time as in the states,” Nada Meawad said.
The move by ICE would impact thousands of students in the Kansas City metro.
“Park University has 263 international students out of 1,400 that are on campus, so they’re a significant part of our academic and campus life,” Park University President Greg Gunderson said.
Gunderson told 41 Action News he’s among many in the area navigating the news by ICE. In the fall, Park University plans to move to hybrid classes, which are a mix of in-person and online courses. This move would prevent international students from having to leave the U.S.
“We’ve communicated to our international students that what we have in place meets the requirement of ICE and that we will adjust our plans accordingly so that they are able to finish their educational experience with us,” Gunderson said.
The decision would keep Nada and Noura at Park University in the fall and save their senior volleyball season.
“All my friends, we don’t call each other friends, we call each other family. So you know, we want to stay,” Noura Meawad said.
The University of Missouri, Kansas State University and the University of Kansas are all offering hybrid courses in order to keep international students in the country.
