K-State professors call for cancellation of SEVP student ban

MANHATTAN, Kan. (WIBW) - In an op-ed from Kansas State University, multiple distinguished professors call for the cancellation of the SEVP student ban.

In an op-ed letter to Kansas Senators and Representatives from distinguished Kansas State University professors, University of Kansas professors, University of Kansas Medical Center professors and Wichita State University professors call for the cancellation of the SEVP student ban which cancels the visas of international students studying in the United States if their classes are held online in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We oppose the Student and Exchange Visitor Program’s student ban, and we ask that you — our representatives in Washington — push for its immediate cancellation,” say the professors. “The decision not to “issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall” has no rational basis, serves no practical purpose, damages American universities, and is simply cruel.”

The Kansas professors say the U.S. thrives when welcoming the world’s greatest minds. If international students learn that they are unwelcome, they will go elsewhere. The professors say unless immediately rescinded, the student ban could catastrophically damage the reputation of the United States higher education system for years.

The professors also say international students subsidize domestic students and if expelled from higher education in the states, colleges and universities - whose budgets have already been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic - will incur even greater losses. According to the NAFSA: Association of International Educators, international students contributed $41 billion to the American economy in 2019.

The professors say the student ban is cruel. It expels students in the middle of a pandemic serving no useful purpose. They say it does not increase their safety or the safety of U.S. nationals. Forcing students to travel puts them at greater risk, disrupts their education and instills in the future leaders a permanent suspicion for the motives of the U.S. says the professors.

According to the Kansas professors, talented people have come from around the globe to make America great. Those born in other countries have a long history of enriching the intellectual, social and cultural lives of Americans.

The professors point out that physicist Albert Einstein (Germany), inventor Nikola Tesla (Croatia), architect I.M. Pei (China), cancer researcher Elizabeth Stern (Canada), novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria), actress Natalie Portman (Israel), Google co-founder Sergey Brin (Russia), Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (India) and Garmin co-founder Min Kao (Taiwan) are only but a few of the countless who have lent their brilliance to the U.S. They say the student ban will prevent the bright young people studying in the states right now from doing the same.

“In our private capacity as university distinguished professors at Kansas State University and the University of Kansas Medical Center and distinguished professors at the University of Kansas and Wichita State University, we ask that you revoke the student ban,” says the letter from the Kansas professors.

Professors that signed the letter are as follows:

Christer B. Aakerӧy, Chemistry, K-State
Perry Alexander, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, KU
Beth Bailey, History, KU
William A. Barnett, Economics, KU
Thomas J. Barstow, Kinesiology, K-State
Alice Bean, Physics, KU
K. Christopher Beard, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, KU
Cory Berkland, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, KU
James D. Bever, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, KU
Raj Bhala, Law, KU
Monica Biernat, Psychology, KU
John Blair, Biology, K-State
Frank Blecha, Anatomy and Physiology, K-State
Mike Blum, Geology, KU
Stefan H. Bossmann, Chemistry, K-State
George R. Bousfield, Biological Sciences, WSU
Nyla Branscombe, Psychology, KU
Yolanda Broyles-González, American Ethnic Studies, K-State
James Calvet, Biochemistry, KUMC
Joyce Castle, School of Music, KU
M.M. Chengappa, Veterinary Medicine, K-State
C. Lewis Cocke, K-State, Physics
Bernard Cornet, Microeconomics, KU
David Darwin, Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering, KU
Elizabeth Dodd, English, K-State
Walter K. Dodds, Biology, K-State
James H. Edgar, Chemical Engineering, K-State
Michael S. Engel, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, KU
Charles Epp, Public Affairs, KU
David Farber, History, KU
Randall Fuller, English, KU
Keith Gido, Biology, K-State
Wayne Everett Goins, Music, K-State
Robert H. Goldstein, Geology, KU
Michael Hageman, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, KU
John W. Head, Law, KU
Anne D. Hedeman, Art History, KU
Andrew C. Isenberg, History, KU
Hartmut Jaeschke, Pharmacology, Toxicology & Therapeutics, KUMC
Ryszard Jankowiak, Chemistry, K-State
Michael R. Kanost, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, K-State
Neal Kingston, Educational Psychology, KU
M.B. Kirkham, Agronomy, K-State
Kimberly Kirkpatrick, Psychological Sciences, K-State
Phillip E. Klebba, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, K-State
John F. Leslie, Plant Pathology, K-State
Susan Lunte, Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, KU
Joe Lutkenhaus, Microbiology, KUMC
Rolfe D. Mandel, Anthropology, KU
Richard Marston, Geography & Geospatial Sciences, K-State
Joane Nagel, Sociology, KU
T.G. Nagaraja, Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, K-State
Philip Nel, English, K-State
David Nualart, Mathematics, KU
Randolph J. Nudo, Rehabilitation Medicine, KUMC
Berl R. Oakley, Molecular and Cellular Biology, KU
Rosemary O’Leary, Public Affairs, KU
Dennis H. O’Rourke, Anthropology, KU
Anil Pahwa, Electrical and Computer Engineering, K-State
A. Townsend Peterson, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, KU
William D. Picking, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, KU
David C. Poole, Kinesiology, Anatomy and Physiology, K-State
P.V. Vara Prasad, Agronomy, K-State
Harald E.L. Prins, Emeritus, Anthropology, K-State
Bharat Ratra, Physics, K-State
Charles W. Rice, Agronomy, K-State
Mabel L. Rice, Speech, Language, Hearing, KU
David Roediger, American Studies, KU
Robert Rohrschneider, Political Science, KU
Christophe Royon, Physics, KU
Paul Selden, Emeritus, Geology, KU
Prakash P. Shenoy, Business, KU
James E. Sherow, Emeritus, History, K-State
Mark B. Shiflett, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, KU
Tom Skrtic, Special Education, KU
C. Michael Smith, Emeritus, Entomology, K-State
Michael J. Soares, Pathology, KUMC
Jorge L. Soberón, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, KU
Yan Soibelman, Mathematics, K-State
Christopher Sorensen, Physics, K-State
Brian Spooner, Biology, K-State
Sandra M. Stith, Applied Human Sciences, K-State
Karan S. Surana, Mechanical Engineering, KU
Uwe Thumm, Physics, K-State
Mike Tokach, Animal Sciences and Industry, K-State
Barbara Valent, Plant Pathology, K-State David B. Volkin, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, KU
J. Douglas Walker, Geology, KU
Steven F. Warren, Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences and Disorders, KU
Robert Warrior, American Literature and Culture, KU
Laurence Weatherley, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, KU
Michael L. Wehmeyer, Special Education, KU
Ruth Welti, Biology, K-State
Kun Yan Zhu, Entomology, K-State
Dean Zollman, Emeritus, Physics, K-State