Editor’s Note: This editorial has been updated for accuracy. It was initially published using outdated international student numbers from Rowan’s website, but has been edited to include the most recent recorded number of international students which is 1,270.

On April 9, President Ali Houshamand addressed the recent federal revocation of eight Rowan student visas during the University Assembled. These eight students are only a fraction of more than 300 college students from universities across the country who had their legal status taken away by the federal government..

For the average college student, it’s easy to run into headlines about international students being deported, having their visas taken away, or facing other kinds of consequences that could potentially arise from recent immigration policies. This was a wake up call for many, that this does happen, and it just happened right here in Glassboro.

According to Joe Cardona, university spokesperson, there are approximately 1,270 international students from countries all over the world. And in a time of uncertainty among this large group of students, the lack of information surrounding this issue only adds to the state of panic and fear for the road ahead. 

The details of this situation, however, are quite murky. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that revoking student visas was linked to the ongoing protests on NJ campuses surrounding Palestine. But this statement has been proven to be unassociated with the revocations according to NJ Spotlight News. Additionally, several associate professors from other universities in the state with student visa revocations, like Rutgers and Monmouth, made contrasting arguments, that these events were unprovoked and are only disrupting the peace of campus communities. 

Due to the lack of information about why these visas were revoked, it has caused many students, faculty, and local community members to reshare articles, accompanied by devastating captions and angry soliloquies to university officials. Given the circumstances around the country, it makes sense that people immediately go towards blaming the MAGA movement for this incident. 

What if, instead, we questioned other reasons why the visas may have been revoked, like missed deadlines, impending graduation, or paperwork issues. We don’t know why this happened, and the swirl of explanations, and questions about whether the decision was malicious or bureaucratic has ultimately led to a widespread confusion across campuses in regards to international student safety. 

It is the belief of The Whit Staff that Rowan needs to be doing more to educate our student body on immigration laws and incidents around campus, to avoid a panic in the student body. With a decent international student population on campus, our students deserve to know why these things are happening, or at the very least reassurance that they won’t be facing deportation in the middle of their walk to class.

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