US universities have launched “You Are Welcome Here”campaign to drive away apprehensions and ‘unwanted feelings’ among US education aspirants after Donald Trump’s remarks on immigration during the US presidential campaign.
The new campaign is now storming the social media with most universities replicating what was initially started by Temple University in Philadelphia. Videos produced by students, staff and faculty invite international students on their campuses infusing warmth and giving assurance that everything is normal and international students needn’t bother about any perceived ill-treatment.
Arun Reddy, Virginia-based techie, says several enquiries from India over the last few months were mostly eliciting the information on the anti-immigration rhetoric and whether they would be welcomed to US campuses in the present scenario.
“I have been telling them that US campuses are progressive in nature and hardly restrictive,” says the alumnus of Texas Tech University.
“Statements made during the campaign are of concern to migrants, however, it’s not likely to scare away international students. America is a land of immigrants. Its progress since the 1950s, to becoming a super power, is attributed to migrants. Moreover, the anti-immigrant rhetoric is a political posture, often revived during the campaigns. They disappear, like many other issues,” says Paul Watson, Ph.D candidate at Texas Tech University Lubbock.
Sridhar Serineni, a resident of Phoenix, Arizona, agrees that apprehensions are galore but unnecessary they are. “A lot of negativity is being spread on social media about the ‘unfavourable’ conditions in US institutions or the Government’s policies. The campaign is a good move to quell such anxieties among aspiring students,” he says.
With India occupying the second highest number of international students on US campuses after China, obviously the campaign is being keenly followed by aspiring students. “It reassures and gives a lot of confidence,” agrees Raghavender Reddy, a student of Keshav Memorial Institute of Technology (KMIT), who is preparing to study in the US.
Other options
Nishi Borra, Hyderabad-based consultant, has a different take. He argues that Indian students choose foreign education with an eye on post-study work and, finally, immigration.
Given the developing political conditions there, students are apprehensive, he says but they have other options as well. “Australia and New Zealand with similar multi-cultural environment offer better prospects and they may gain due to the political atmosphere in the US.”
