SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): Singaporean students bound for Harvard University are still pressing ahead with their plans despite uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s ban on foreign students, even as some still do not have their visas.
Welly Tantono, the president of its Singapore alumni club, told The Straits Times on June 14 that as far as she is aware, none of the prospective Singaporean students have relinquished their offers.
The Harvard Club of Singapore on June 14 organised a pre-departure meeting for the Republic’s Harvard hopefuls, which ST understands was attended by more than 10 matriculating undergraduates and postgraduates.
Among them, about half have yet to obtain their visas, said a Harvard Club Board member, who declined to be named.
Some existing visa appointments at the local US embassy have also been cancelled, and new appointments are difficult to make, he added.
A total of 22 people had indicated on the club’s website that they would attend the annual event, which was held at Monk’s Brew Club in Katong.
Tantono said the event had hoped to “offer comfort” to matriculating students.
Typically a celebratory affair, it took on a different tenor this year with the theme Navigating Your Next Steps Amid Uncertainty, as anxious attendees sought advice and assurance.
According to the club’s website, immigration lawyers were present to address students’ concerns about student visas, immigration issues and legal documentation.
Current Harvard students and alumni were also invited to offer guidance to new students.
Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan had said on June 7 that Singapore’s embassy in Washington has been seeking clarification from the US State Department and Department of Homeland Security on whether there would be a delay in visa processing for Singaporean students hoping to study in the US.
He added that the Government is trying to find solutions to deal with the worst-case scenario where students are not able to physically study in Boston.
Harvard’s fall semester is due to start in late August, with first-year students arriving a week early for placement tests and adjustment to campus life.
Tantono said that amid the uncertainty, Harvard University has been up to date in its communications with international students, who understandably may have many concerns.
The students have also been in contact with the Harvard International Office, she added.
Trump has made recent moves to re-work the landscape of American higher education – claiming that private schools have tolerated campus anti-Semitism, while fostering anti-American and “radical left” ideologies.
In April, the Trump Administration froze close to US$3 billion (S$3.8 billion) of Harvard’s federal research funding.
A month later, the school’s right to host and enrol foreign students and scholars was terminated – a move that was later halted by a US District Judge.
Trump’s June 4 directive to bar foreign nationals seeking to study the US from entering the country was also blocked temporarily by the judge, who on June 5, also extended May’s hold by about two weeks.
The new temporary block made in June will also last for two weeks.
The effects of the president’s siege have been felt across the university, where close to 6,800 international students make up about a third of the student populace. - The Straits Times/Asia News Network
