Penn has not released any new information or communicated to the University-wide community about visa revocations.
Credit: Chenyao LiuHigher education institutions have offered varied responses as the number of student visa revocations has continued to rise across the country. But two weeks since the news of the terminations first came to light, Penn remains silent.
An April 7 email from International Student and Scholar Services to the international Penn community announced that “at least three” student visas were revoked by the federal government. Since then, in statements and interviews to The Daily Pennsylvanian, faculty members have criticized the Penn administration’s lack of both transparency and clarification on the issue.
At the time of publication, the Trump administration has revoked over 1300 student visas across the country.
Penn learned of the changes to the students’ immigration statuses through a check of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program database — an online system managed by the Department of Homeland Security that tracks the records of international students studying in the United States, according to ISSS.
“Know that we will make every effort to provide you with timely guidance about recent immigration policy changes,” the April 7 announcement read.
Since its initial message, Penn has not informed the wider University community of further revocations, nor has it announced additional support to international students and faculty. Following numerous requests for comment, a University spokesperson did not disclose if any additional Penn students have been affected.
After multiple requests for clarification, a University spokesperson told the DP that Penn is checking students’ visa statuses twice a day through SEVIS. ISSS later added that it was monitoring the impacts of a new federal policy terminating the visas of all South Sudanese passport holders.
“I’m very concerned about this issue — what’s happening is outrageous,” Douglas Durian, the Mary Amanda Wood Professor of Physics and Astronomy, wrote in a statement to the DP. “Students and faculty, as well as general citizenry, should all be protesting. I also wish the administration issued more and frequent updates as well as a statement of support. In an ideal world Penn would also offer legal assistance.”
School of Veterinary Medicine professor Andrew Vaughan emphasized the need for clarity regarding the immigration statuses of Penn community members in an interview with the DP.
“You’re hard-pressed to find one of these professors who doesn’t have at least one international student or post-grad,” Vaughan said. “We need to know that this is happening to be able to take proactive steps — to the degree that we can — to plan for the potentiality of if one of our international students’ visa is revoked overnight.”
He added that Penn has a “moral obligation” to protect students from a “fascist government” that wants to revoke visas “for no reason other than the personal ideologies those students hold.”
Vaughan urged Penn to “take a clear stand” on protecting the University’s international community, in addition to offering “clear guidelines” about the authority of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on campus.
Vaughan — who also serves as a member of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee — noted that faculty, including shared governance bodies, have “received no information and certainly not through any widespread communication.”
English professor Zachary Lesser also encouraged Penn to “speak out against these arbitrary and lawless actions.”
“Penn has actively and eagerly sought to enroll students from outside the U.S.,” Lesser said. “That creates a moral obligation to them.”
He cited Tufts University’s response to the March 25 detainment of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish student at Tufts who was arrested by ICE. Öztürk co-authored an article at Tuft’s student newspaper in March 2024. Tufts responded with a statement of support following her arrest.
“Rumeysa is a student, teacher, colleague, and a valued member of our community,” Tufts’ statement read. “Rumeysa’s presence on campus has been missed, as her genuineness and care for others have been felt deeply here at Tufts.”
Several peer institutions have offered support to their international students and faculty in light of sweeping federal action targeting higher education. Earlier this week, Harvard President Alan Garber announced the university’s decision not to comply with 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump’s demands.
A statement from Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth criticized a series of decisions from the Trump administration, including the revocation of student visas.
“The threat of unexpected visa revocations will make it less likely that top talent from around the world will come to the US — and that will damage American competitiveness and scientific leadership for years to come,” Kornbluth wrote.
Physics professor Andrea Liu similarly acknowledged the adverse potential of the revocations in an interview with the DP.
“I think it’s terrifying as a student, as an international student or scholar, to feel that you could be facing the full weight of the United States government against you,” Liu said, “and so the University really has to bend over backwards to provide support in a case like that.”
Liu emphasized the role played by international students and scholars on campus, along with the need to protect them against federal “targeting.”
“We benefit enormously from our international students and scholars,” she said. “… Penn has recruited them aggressively, and now it needs to stand up.”
She added that the revocations not only “raise serious questions about due process” on college campuses but were also delivered without “a reason.” She described some of the rationales — including traffic violations — as “outrageous.”
Her sentiment was echoed by Vaughan, who said, “It’s clear that many [student visas] are being revoked for ideological reasons. That is, at best, unlawful — if not just outright illegal.”
“We’ve become a country I don’t recognize anymore,” Liu concluded.
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