Wednesday, October 17, 2001

Small World
Diverse views central to education

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) proposed a six-month moratorium on issuing international student visas following the Sept. 11 attacks. Last week, after consulting education officials, she reversed her original position on the moratorium and stopped pushing the proposed legislation.

Restricting the number of international students on university campuses is not the proper response to the terrorist attacks. Thankfully, lawmakers realized that before it was too late.

Even in times of national crisis, limiting the number of international students at American universities would hurt students the most — and not just those who seek a higher education in the United States.

All students benefit from interaction with other students who come from different parts of the world, who have different cultural backgrounds or who have different views of the world.

Part of the TCU vision statement is “to be a prominent private university recognized for our global perspective, our diverse and supportive learning community.” How much harder would it be to have a global perspective if all the students on campus were from the United States?

In the classroom students are taught to think critically and “outside the box.” If they are not faced with ideas that differ from their own, they are being sheltered from the rest of the world.

Even in the nation’s time of great trial, education officials hold true to these ideals.

Judging from past administrative statements and actions, TCU students should be assured this university is counted among those who will preserve a global environment on college campuses.

It’s only natural that the country is trying to protect itself from unknown threats. Though the proposed database to track international students may increase scrutiny of all international students, it is a justifiable protective measure.

This measure is vital to keep our country’s educational system open to all those who seek the opportunity for education and to deter those who would abuse the system for the wrong reasons.