Yesterday (July 14), the University of California Office of the President confirmed that the Trump administration has canceled its plans to adopt and enforce new Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) guidelines and related FAQs for fall 2020, which were announced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on July 6 and July 7, respectively. At this time, we are analyzing what this reversal means to UC Davis international students, but we are hopeful that this decision to not move forward with the guidelines adds more stability as you plan for fall. We remain committed to supporting you and will update this webpage with guidance as soon as we have more information to share.
We are writing to share our sincere concern, empathy, and commitment to action related to the new guidelines for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) published July 6, by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Please be assured our entire campus and the entire University of California system remains committed to supporting you and we are here to help. We are heartened by the influx of messages we have been receiving in support of you from students, faculty, staff, alumni, community members, and more.
There is plenty of pushback in California on Thursday against President Donald Trump – and his administration’s new policy requiring foreign students to leave the United States if their universities don’t offer in-person classes.
On July 6, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security published new guidelines for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, or SEVP, that impacts thousands of our international students at UC Davis. Like our colleagues across campus and throughout the University of California system, we are deeply concerned by these new guidelines as they are an abrupt departure from the Homeland Security guidance provided for spring and summer 2020 and they run counter to our values at UC Davis. In fact, these guidelines are cruel and thoughtless. We want to assure you that UC Davis remains committed to supporting our international students and scholars who add enormously to the excellence that puts us amongst the world’s leading research and teaching institutions.
UC President Janet Napolitano and UC Davis administrators have issued statements regarding the announcement Monday (July 6) by the federal government that it would bar nonimmigrant international students from staying in the country during the pandemic if their class schedules consist entirely of online instruction.
On behalf of UC Davis Global Affairs, we are writing to praise the resiliency and hard work you have displayed this academic year, especially this quarter, and to congratulate all of our graduating international students and their families. We hope you will enjoy this video, featuring special messages from UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May and many supporters, congratulating this year’s graduating undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, who represent nearly 50 countries and are now joining the prestigious network of more than 250,000 UC Davis alumni around the world.
UC Davis has been named one of only four U.S. universities to receive NAFSA’s 2020 Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Campus Internationalization. This honor is bestowed annually to leading higher education institutions for excellence in internationalization efforts—both on campus and across the world.
The University of California has built a $34 million dining facility that offers international dishes from Indian shrimp curry to Tuscan kale and white bean soup in a bid to celebrate diversity and make overseas students “feel more at home”.
