声音 | 美国杜兰大学声援国际学生
美国杜兰大学十所学院院长联合发布声明
美国杜兰大学Mike Fitts校长稍早发布消息，明确表示杜兰大学会全力支持该校国际学生，致力于学生教育并助力他们取得成功。杜兰大学九所学院以及纽科姆-杜兰学院的院长们在此与Fitts校长一道坚定地表明我们的观点：我们认为美国移民局宣布的“持非移民(F-1)签证的学生入读美国高校，如该校全部采用线上授课，则学生将无法获得签证。对于已持有这类签证并正在美国学习的国际学生，如果其所在大学被迫在学期开始时全部采用线上授课，则他们将被要求离开美国”的政策有损美国高校的教育和研究使命，并威胁到我们学生的福祉。
该政策对国际学生的排斥行为将削弱美国大学的教育质量和研究实力。大学旨在支持教育，鼓励辩论，挑战思想并引导探索新方法以引领人类进步。诸如我们这样的学术机构从多元化的国际学生群体中获益匪浅。我们认为，无论来自美国或是世界上任何一个国家，凭借努力进入大学学习的学生都应得到认可，并能够与其他人一样，参与到课堂中。
我们将与我们的国际学生肩并肩，并承诺尽一切努力确保他们的教育不受干扰。一直以来，杜兰与其他大学的院长们保持联系，并正在积极探索可能采取的必要措施，以确保我们的国际学生能够继续在杜兰接受教育。无论高等法院是否撤销或推翻该政策，无论新冠病毒的发展是否需要学校调整其秋季学期的教学计划，我们坚信大学的国际成员不可或缺，也承诺保护他们在杜兰接受教育的决心。
此致，
本译文内容有删减。详细原文见下：
Statement by Tulane Deans on International Students
On Monday, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program of the Department of Homeland Security announced that nonimmigrant (F-1) students will not be issued visas to attend U.S. institutions whose classes will be delivered entirely online. It also stated that international students already studying in the U.S. on such visas will be required to leave the country if their universities are forced to move classes entirely online once the semester is underway.
Earlier this week, President Mike Fitts issued a message making clear that Tulane University stands with our international students and is fully committed to their education and success. As deans of Tulane Universit/s nine schools and Newcomb- Tulane College, we join with President Fitts in stating our view that this federal policy does harm to the educational and research missions of America's colleges and universities and threatens the welfare of our students.
First, the order's exclusion of international students undermines the educational quality and research strength of U.S. universities. Universities are places that support education, encourage debate, challenge ideas and lead in discovering novel ways to improve our collective humanity. Academic institutions like ours benefit immensely from a diverse, international student body. All students in the classroom gain perspective by having classmates whose life experience differs from theirs. Such interactions expand their mutual understanding of the world and prepare them for leadership in a global society.
Expelling international students from the U.S. and forcing them to complete their studies from their home countries does not provide them with a realistic or equal learning opportunity. Participating in class from half a world away can be challenging or, in some countries, impossible. A class delivered live, online at 1 p.m. local time would broadcast at 1 a.m. in a country on the opposite side of the globe. Classes may be recorded and available for viewing later, butthat means that immediate, in-class interaction among students is disrupted and the opportunity for expanded learning is diminished.
Second, the order compounds the personal struggles and hardships faced by many international students. The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant challenges for all of our students, including illness, quarantine, economic losses, travel barriers and concerns for the well-being of their families. For many international students, these are significantly compounded by experiencing these challenges in a foreign country, far from home and separated from their loved ones. By imposing a cloud of uncertainty over their ability to pursue their chosen studies in the U.S. and leaving them subject to the possibility of sudden disruption, the order piles on needless anxiety and distress, interfering with their ability to focus on their studies and contribute fully to our campuses. We believe students who've worked hard to get into a university should be recognized for that achievement and allowed to participate in class in the same way as their peers, whether they are from the United States or any other country around the world.
Finally, the order potentially distorts the considerations that should drive university decisions about whether to offer classes in person or remotely. These decisions should be based solely upon considerations of the quality of the academic experience and the health and safety of our communities.
At Tulane University, our intention is to deliver fall courses using online and hybrid methods. In hybrid courses, classes have both in-person and online components. This method gives students the all-important classroom experience and allows it to be delivered safely in a way that considers the needs of all students. This should exempt our international students from direct impacts from the order. However, none of us can predict the future. Should COVID-19 cases creep up in New Orleans and the surrounding area, the university must make science-based decisions that protect the health and safety of all of our entire community, just as we did last spring. The wellbeing of our community is always critical to our decision making and should not come at the cost of harm to our international students.
We stand with our international students and pledge every effort to protect them from disruption to their education. Many of us are in touch with fellow deans from other universities and are actively exploring steps that we can take, if necessary, to ensure that our international students will be able to continue their education at Tulane, without regard for whether the order is withdrawn or overturned in the courts or whether future developments in the pandemic require Tulane to alter its plans for delivering instruction during the fall semester. In the meantime, we affirm the indispensability of the international members of our community and our determination to safeguard their education at Tulane.
