RISD President: International Student's Visa "Terminated"

RISD President: International Student's Visa "Terminated"

The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) announced Monday that one of its international students had their visa revoked. 

RISD did not share information regarding the student's identity - it did say it is offering support to the student at this time. 

President Crystal Williams shared the following message with the college community.

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Head of RISD on Record

Williams wrote the following to the college commmunity, in light of the situation: 

"Amid the current landscape of rapidly changing immigration policies, RISD’s Office of International Students and Scholar Affairs (ISSA) routinely reviews the internal and government records of our international students. 

Unfortunately, today we learned of one student whose international status was marked “terminated,” a formal designation that reflects the revocation of a student’s visa status in the U.S.

Earlier today, ISSA wrote to the student directly with an offer to:
* help identify possible legal resources, and
* to the extent possible, support the student throughout this difficult moment.

Further, we have asked the student’s academic department leadership to extend care as they are able; and we have involved the student success office in Student Life.

To protect the student’s privacy, we will not disclose their name. And although we have not been told the reason for the terminated status, we know that other international students and scholars in the United States are experiencing similar changes to their statuses with no clear specific reason(s) given for the terminations. In fact, more than 300 international students nationwide have had their international student statuses revoked in recent days. 

As an educational institution, our goal and mission are to support the success of our students and amplify their dreams and ambitions. Such a revocation of one’s student status is rare, personally and professionally impactful, and especially heartbreaking.

Like so many communities of higher education that are affected by changing guidance and policies, we are deeply concerned by these developments and are closely monitoring the situation. As a global art and design school, our international students are vital to RISD, and we remain committed to preserving our mission and RISD’s dynamic and necessary global community of artists and designers."