Will the current political landscape dissuade foreign students

[fatsculler]

Hearing a lot in the news at the moment regarding the political landscape in the USA becoming more and more isolationist, I'm just beginning to wonder if this will start to dissuade some non-American students from looking to the US for their studies and rowing development?

[Slim]

There was a noticable impact on foreign student enrollment during the last Trump administration. Now that they are deporting students for attending protests & social media posts, I would expect it to have a larger impact.

[Greenandblack]

I, as always, can only speak from my experience. My daughter had seriously been looking at US Colleges up until November, but following Trumps election win, she now "would never consider going to the US under any circumstances". She reckons she could bear to live in a country where half the population are " as thick as a plank of wood"! Apologies to those decent Americans of which there are millions.

[fullmetal]

That is a fact. And if there's one thing the last few years has shown us, it's that many nations have populations that are thick as a plank of wood. Without getting political, I think it's pretty obvious that nativism and populism have been inflamed across Europe as well as North America. It does mean that students will be marginally safer in countries where they are citizens. I hope for better days ahead.

[Greenandblack]

Too right fullmetal! There is a very fine line between between Patriotism/Nativism and Nationalism. You are correct, it is not unique to the USA. All over the world the decline in decency, compassion, understanding and education continues. It might be a little simplistic, but it seems to go hand in hand with the proliferation of nonsense on the internet delivered to us by our handheld devices. It was supposed to offer us knowledge at our fingertips, but has unfortunately resulted in ignorance of history, geography and indeed humanity as we are deluged by those who shout loudest.

[Cowbells123]

That is a fact. And if there's one thing the last few years has shown us, it's that many nations have populations that are thick as a plank of wood. Without getting political, I think it's pretty obvious that nativism and populism have been inflamed across Europe as well as North America. It does mean that students will be marginally safer in countries where they are citizens. I hope for better days ahead.

“Better days ahead”
Many of us American do but sadly I think we are headed for darker days. I personally don’t blame any foreign students from passing on US universities right now.
Add to that many faculty are also looking elsewhere. Wonder how that may also impact foreign born coaches.

[paradox]

There were more foreign born D1 basketball players during this recently completed 2024- 2025 season than any previous season.

I doubt that a smart foreign rower given the opportunity to attend a top US college will decline to attend because of politics.

[fullmetal]

They'll have to scrub their social media from their phones though.

[sandor]

They'll have to scrub their social media from their phones though.

Phone?

Nah, DHS/Dept of State are screening your social media prior to even giving a visa.

And denial can come from "hostile attitudes" towards the US culture or values. So a very ill-defined criteria

[KitD]

Hmm, better review my comments about US W8+ technique

[bz]

Here are some interesting statistics that have been highlighted with the administration threatening to revoke Harvard's ability to enroll international students (summary from D1.ticker):

The Trump administration is now threatening to revoke Harvard’s ability to enroll international students, a cohort that makes up at least 21% of the school’s student-athletes, according to Sportico’s Daniel Libit, Lev Akabas and Eben Novy-Williams. Specifically, the Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that it would cancel two federal grants to Harvard and demanded “detailed records” on what it described without specifics as “illegal and violent activities” by Harvard’s foreign student visa holders. Failure to comply, the department said, would result in the school losing a government-issued certification that allows it to enroll international students. Libit, et al. note that of the Crimson’s 919 student-athletes listed on public athletic rosters, 196 have hometowns outside the U.S. More than 50% of the athletes on the current women’s soccer, women’s golf and men’s heavyweight rowing squads are international. How many of those foreign athletes are on international visas and how many are U.S. citizens or green card holders is unclear.

Bill Zack

[Cowbells123]

Good for Harvard for not bowing to kiss the ring. Hoping this is the needed shift for other universities to find a backbone.

[lt.wolf]

https://youtu.be/EMJxKhJUg_g?si=H-W0pk9WZAAnBDbB

Harvard University has refused to bow to President Trump's demands to drop DEI measures and punish student protesters.
In response the Trump administration has frozen $2 billion in federal funds for Harvard and is now threatening to revoke the university's tax-exempt status. While Columbia and some other institutions have acceded to Trump's demands, a growing number -- including Princeton --are joining Harvard in fighting back.
Among them is Wesleyan University, whose federal funding is also under threat. Wesleyan President Michael Roth joins Christiane from Connecticut.
Originally aired on April 16, 2025

[fatsculler]

There were more foreign born D1 basketball players during this recently completed 2024- 2025 season than any previous season.

I doubt that a smart foreign rower given the opportunity to attend a top US college will decline to attend because of politics.

The difference with basketball though is it offers a route to the NBA and the $$$$$$ that come with that

[paradox]

Good for Harvard for not bowing to kiss the ring. Hoping this is the needed shift for other universities to find a backbone.

Cowbells … will you join me in condemning the antisemitism at Harvard?

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024 ... tism-real/