Latest news with #UT-Dallas
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UT-Dallas' new president will be Prabhas Moghe, regents say
University of Texas System regents have named Prabhas Moghe, Rutgers University's chief academic officer, as the sole finalist in the running to become UT-Dallas' next president. Regents on Wednesday voted unanimously to name Mogue. The decision comes after UT-Dallas President Richard C. Benson announced last year he will step down. Regents are expected to officially name Moghe for the role after a 21-day waiting period required by Texas law. He would likely start his presidency this summer or early fall, following the end of the 2024-25 academic year, according to a news release. A presidential search advisory committee chaired by UT System Chancellor JB Milliken recommended Moghe's selection. The committee praised Moghe's leadership experience and academic background. 'Dr. Moghe's record of strengthening educational pathways and propelling research agendas forward reflect many of UT Dallas's strengths and continued aspirations. He has a deep appreciation for UTD's mission and extraordinary ascendancy among top universities,' Milliken said. Moghe has a long academic career. He joined Rutgers University in New Jersey in 1995. There, he was appointed a distinguished professor of biomedical engineering and chemical and biochemical engineering. He became the school's executive vice president for academic affairs in 2020. He was responsible for managing academic and research operations across four campuses and 29 academic units. Moghe, who was born in Bombay, India, came to the United States as an international student at the University of Minnesota. He shared his experience in an interview with Rutgers Today, a university publication. 'I had flown thousands of miles from the warmest place on the planet, to a country I had never visited,' Moghe said. 'But I always knew that I had to keep moving on and I was going to the top graduate program in the world at the time for chemical engineering.' UT-Dallas is a public research university located in Richardson. It enrolled 29,886 students in fall 2024, including students from 130 countries. Moghe's appointment comes at a challenging time for the school. Earlier this year, at least 19 international students from UT-Dallas were among thousands across the country who had their visas revoked. A subsequent federal court ruling temporarily restored several Texas students' visas, including at least one for a student from UT-Dallas. Federal immigration authorities had said they were targeting international students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests last year, though many of the students whose status was revoked had not protested. They appeared to have been targeted because of minor offenses or other interactions with law enforcement. Last spring, at least 17 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at UT-Dallas. The administration called in law enforcement during the demonstrations, drawing criticism from some student groups. Disclosure: University of Texas System has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Court orders immigration officials to restore legal status of three people who came to Texas on student visas
Federal judges have ordered immigration officials to temporarily restore the legal status of three people from India who came to Texas on student visas. Manoj Mashatti, Chandraprakash Hinge and Akshar Patel are among more than a thousand students nationwide whose permission to be in the U.S. was revoked. International students have been discovering in recent weeks that their immigration status was marked as terminated in a database used to keep track of international students known as the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS. Mashatti obtained an F-1 student visa to pursue a master's degree in business analytics at the University of Texas at Dallas. He graduated in May 2024 and then applied for and received authorization to work as a full-time data engineer, according to his lawsuit. UT-Dallas informed him his status was terminated on April 2 based on a prior arrest for driving while intoxicated. He had completed probation for that charge. Court documents provide fewer details about Hinge and Patel. Their attorney said they were both students at the University of Texas at Arlington and have graduated. Hinge came to the U.S. in 2020 to get a graduate degree. Patel was an undergraduate student who says his immigration status was terminated from SEVIS solely because of a November 2018 arrest for reckless driving. That case was dismissed. Both their LinkedIn profiles indicate they still live and work in North Texas, Hinge as a thermal engineer and Patel in the computer science field. Steven Brown, the immigration attorney representing the students, filed separate lawsuits for each one against Todd M. Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in federal courts in Washington, D.C. The judge in Hinge's case said ICE had offered conflicting positions in both its court filings and oral arguments about what effect its actions had on Hinge's visa. The judge wrote in his order that the student's legal status should remain unchanged. Brown said none of his three clients have left the country. He added that he may be bringing more lawsuits against ICE on behalf of other international students in Texas and across the country whose legal immigration status has been revoked. Brown said the way ICE is targeting students appears to be 'arbitrary' and 'capricious.' That's also how four UT Rio Grande Valley students who have sued the Department of Homeland Security have described federal immigration officials' actions. Those students' attorney, Marlene Dougherty, declined to comment to The Texas Tribune on Friday. The federal government has said it is targeting people who have committed crimes or participated in protests it views as antisemitic. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said in a statement to the Tribune that it regularly reviews whether visa holders are complying with requirements to remain in good standing. SEVIS terminations may occur for various reasons, the statement said, including if they stopped going to school or working. When it finds violations, the agency added, it notifies the Department of State, which may consider revoking the students' visa after considering their criminal history and other national security concerns. 'This process is nothing new and is part of a longstanding protocol and program,' a senior DHS official said. 'Individuals who remain in the U.S. without lawful immigration status may be subject to arrest and removal. If a SEVIS record is terminated or a visa revoked, the individual will be notified and typically given 10 days to depart the country voluntarily. The safest and most efficient option is self-deportation using the CBP Home app.' A Department of State spokesperson said the agency does not comment on ongoing litigation and its actions in specific cases for privacy reasons. The Consulate General for India could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday. International students across the country are asking federal judges to temporarily block the government from changing their legal immigration status. In this week alone, judges in at least five states have granted their requests, according to CNN and Reuters. The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Disclosure: University of Texas - Arlington and University of Texas - Dallas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas' breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get tickets before May 1 and save big! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
More than 260 Texas international students had visas revoked, legal status changed
As part of the Trump administration's effort to remove international students from the U.S. who have participated in pro-Palestinian activism or have had criminal offenses, the federal government has revoked visas or terminated legal statuses for more than 1,000 students across the country, including hundreds in Texas. Students in some cases have been given no reason for the change in their status or have had their visas terminated for minor infractions such as parking tickets or disputes with roommates, according to media reports. Some have sued the federal government over the lack of due process, while others have self-deported out of fear. Here's what is happening in Texas: More than 260 Texas higher education students have had their visas revoked or legal status changed as of Tuesday, an American-Statesman analysis shows. Students can sometimes extend their visas to work in the U.S. after their studies for short periods. This means that recent alumni on student visas have reportedly also been affected. More: More than 170 international students at UT System schools have had visas revoked: officials Universities are limited in the information they can share under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, but in some cases they've shared specific numbers. The breakdown of known students who have had their legal immigration status changed is as follows: University of Texas System — 176, Randa Safady, vice chancellor for communications, confirmed Monday. Safady declined to break down the numbers for the system's specific institutions. UT-Dallas, which has the second-highest percentage of international students in the state behind Rice University, recorded 19 visas revocations, according to the Texas Tribune, which also reported that UT-Arlington had 27 students affected. UT-Austin confirmed that "multiple" students had visa changes but would not confirm specific numbers. Texas A&M System — 38, Jim Suydam spokesperson for the system, confirmed Monday. Texas A&M: 23 Texas A&M University Kingsville: 9 Texas A&M University Corpus Christi: 3 Prairie View A&M University: 1 Texas A&M University Texarkana: 1 Texas A&M International University: 1 Texas State University System — 10 people, spokesperson Mike Wintemute confirmed Tuesday. Lamar University: 5 Sam Houston State University: 3 Texas State University: 2 Texas Tech University System - at least three, the system confirmed Tuesday Last week, Texas Tech University said three students had their visas revoked, spokesperson Kristina Woods Butler confirmed to the American-Statesman. Although she declined to provide the system's updated numbers, she said that "we are committed to supporting our students to the extent permitted by law to help them navigate the disruption in their academic journeys." University of North Texas System — 30, according to a spokesperson Tuesday. UNT System spokesperson Devynn Case said the most recent data showed nine undergraduate and 21 graduate students had their visas terminated. University of Houston — a "small number," the system told the Statesman. "Since March 25, a small number of our international students have been impacted by SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) terminations and/or visa revocations," spokesperson Shawn Lindsey said in a statement, declining to share specific numbers. "Our practice is to notify these students directly of these changes." Texas Woman's University — Six at its flagship campus, according to the Texas Tribune. Texas Woman's University System did not respond to a Statesman request for the information by Tuesday afternoon. Rice University — Five people, according to the Houston Chronicle. International students are accepted by U.S. institutions, which then submit a form, typically an I-20, to the federal government, which then issues a visa that asserts their right to enter and stay in the country, Faye Kolly, an immigration attorney in Austin, told the Statesman. David Donatti, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement that students are being notified of their legal status decisions without due process to correct or address alleged violations. "The federal government didn't simply revoke student visas, which would limit travel in and out of the country but took the more severe step of altering students' legal statuses," Donatti said. "Interrupting their academic and professional pursuits mid-stream and exposing them to arrest, detention, and deportation, often just weeks before the end of term and graduation ceremonies is cruel." It also means international students will likely be more averse to studying in the United States, hurting universities' ability to recruit the best talent and drive innovation, Kolly said. Some students have appealed their legal status changes. Kolly said, however, that students may preemptively self-deport due to the "climate of fear" around what will happen if they do not leave. In some cases, students were reportedly told to self-deport, according to USA Today. ICYMI: Trump administration revokes 15 TAMU student visas, UT students protest new crackdown The Trump administration threatened to deport international students involved in pro-Palestinian protests during his 2024 presidential campaign and quickly acted on such promises. In late March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his office was working "every day" to deport "lunatics," and pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University and Tufts University were detained and had their visas revoked. But there have been two more "waves" of visa revocations that don't appear to involve activism. One, Kolly described, seemed to target students with any criminal record, including parking tickets. The other seemed to be more random and nonspecific, she said, referring to vague violations of their visa status. Universities can see if a student's status has changed by checking the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System maintained by the designated school official and by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration services. Kolly said students who face visa changes have received an email from the State Department alerting them to a change of status and the reason for the change. Kolly said it's important that students who receive such an email contact their university to understand the implications, as a visa and status are connected, but they are two different things. "Visas are the stamps that are issued in passports, and they're only issued by U.S. consulates abroad," Kolly said. "What seems to be happening (is) the status is being terminated and the visa is being revoked, but you have to look at each case separately." If a visa is revoked, students should contact their university, save all their academic and immigration forms, and find a lawyer, Kolly said. In some cases, the university can resubmit a form for a student to seek to reestablish their legal status or a lawyer can fight the federal government's decision, she said. Some students have filed class action lawsuits, Kolly said. Nineteen state attorney generals have sued the federal government over its actions, seeking an injunction to temporarily block the administration from canceling student visas. International students are coveted by universities who seek world-class talent in their student bodies to drive innovation, cultural diversity and excellence. These students pay full tuition and are not eligible for financial or state aid. They are estimated to contribute about $2 billion to the Texas economy alone, according to the Higher Education Immigration Portal. Texas has more than 80,000 international students, making the number affected by the visa revocations a small percentage. But the fear of what will come next is strong and extends beyond immigrant students, Kolly said. Even U.S. citizens are calling her office to ask if they should travel, she said. "The impacts are going to be long term and ultimately devastating as we continue on this path," said Kolly, adding that it will affect trust in the immigration system for lawful immigrants who come to the United States. "My fear is that the damage is already done." This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Trump revokes visas, changes status for more than 260 Texas students
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UT-Dallas students launch alternative newspaper after clash with administration
In late January, the University of Texas at Dallas removed most newspaper stands that once held its official student publication: The Mercury. The student-produced newspaper hadn't published a physical edition since last fall after students went on strike over the firing of its editor, Gregorio Olivares Guiterrez, who defended the organization's coverage of pro-Palestinian protests on campus. In the following months, Olivares Guiterrez and his colleagues launched an alternative news organization The Retrograde. The students published the first hardcopy edition Jan. 23, one day after the newsstands were removed from campus. Without newsstands, Olivares Gutierrez and his fellow student journalists passed out by hand more than a thousand copies He watched as more and more people flipped open the eight-page edition. Inside, a flashy spread of purple, with the banner headline: 'Public records revealed.' The article contained what Olivares Gutierrez had learned from examining a thousand emails administrators had sent and received following pro-Palestine protests at UT-Dallas. He reported that the university tried to downplay an update to its free speech guidelines to prohibit tents and barricades in the days after a contentious pro-Palestine protest on campus. 'I don't want to be the sole knower of this,' Olivares Guiterrez said. Olivares Guiterrez and his peers launched the Retrograde without university funding or oversight after clashing with the administration over their coverage of those protests while working for the Mercury. They say after that coverage, administrators replaced their adviser with one who wanted to attend editorial meetings and read stories before they printed. When Olivares Guiterrez resisted, the adviser called for him to be fired. The Retrograde's creation and the drama that preceded it underlines tensions between students and public university administrators, who state leaders have expected to strongly condemn the pro-Palestinian protests as antisemitic. University of Texas at Austin President Jay Hartzell called in state troopers when students and community members protested the university's investing in manufacturers supplying Israel weapons in its strikes on Gaza, and UT-Dallas President Richard Benson did the same a few days later. Hartzell's actions were praised by lawmakers in the state's capitol. Benson's appears to have received less of their attention, but this was not the first time the university was accused by students and faculty of stifling free speech. It came under fire in 2023 for removing three boulders on campus — known as Spirit Rocks — after groups painted dueling pro-Israel and pro-Palestine messages on them. UT-Dallas officials have denied their decisions had anything to do with the Mercury's content. They said they hope to revive the Mercury, after making some changes to how student media is governed. The Mercury staff published multiple stories that questioned whether UT-Dallas should have brought state troopers in to dismantle an encampment and arrest 21 people on May 1. The Mercury reported the university did not respond to numerous requests for comment, so they included some of what Benson wrote about the incident in an op-ed for the Dallas Morning News. Benson said UT-Dallas 'staunchly protects the rights of free speech and free assembly,' but had to call law enforcement after it became clear the protesters would not comply with a request to move or disassemble the encampment, which was impeding faculty, staff and students from their daily tasks. 'It is important to note that no one was arrested for being a protester,' he said. One of the Mercury's top stories was an interview with an art history professor who was arrested. It garnered more than 100 comments online, most of them critical of the university and Benson. Olivares Gutierrez said after publication, an administrator called him and then-Mercury managing editor Maria Shaikh into a meeting. That administrator told them they had committed 'journalism malpractice,' but wouldn't explain how. The university then hired a new adviser, who wanted to attend editorial meetings and read stories before they were published. The staff resisted. Tensions boiled over in September when Olivares Gutierrez was removed as editor-in-chief at a last-minute meeting of the board that governs the Mercury. He said the university then didn't follow its own procedures to consider his appeal. UT-Dallas officials declined to comment on disciplinary proceedings or on personnel matters other than to say the Mercury's prior adviser was serving on an interim basis and is currently assistant director of student media. They also said they are working with the student government to revise the Student Media Operating Board's bylaws to be more clear about everyone's roles going forward. The bylaws state the adviser, also known as the director of student media 'is responsible for general oversight of the material, programming, business affairs and operating procedures of all UTD student media' and 'shall attend all staff meetings and training sessions conducted by UTD student media in an advisory capacity.' The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and the Student Press Law Center have insisted the bylaws be amended to give student editors the ability to make decisions about the newspaper's leadership, discipline and policies. 'The SMOB's oversight authority over The Mercury and other UTD student media directly invites the kind of impermissible content control prohibited by the First Amendment,' the groups wrote in a letter to UT-Dallas that has gone unanswered. Courts have repeatedly ruled that the First Amendment forbids college administrators from censoring or taking adverse action against student publications unless they can show a story would lead to a violent disruption in the educational environment or is obscene, libelous or invades someone's privacy. Some states have built upon those rights, enacting laws to protect college student journalists from censorship and advisers from retaliation for refusing to censor them. Texas is not one of them, and this is a time when student journalists are under pressure the likes of which have not been seen since the Vietnam War. Some who have covered protests to the Israel-Hamas war have been expelled and arrested in the past year, said Jonathan Gaston Falk, a staff attorney at the Student Press Law Center. Still, he believes student media can have both university support and editorial independence. 'Unfortunately, this movement of protests has called that into question a bit, but there are still plenty of effective models,' Gaston Falk said. The Brechner Center for the Advancement of the First Amendment at the University of Florida studied some of these models in 2024. It found that a majority of student news outlets get some of their funding from their associated university and have university-paid faculty or staff advise them. To combat the threats associated with this, it recommended making the university agree in writing when an adviser will intervene and how. It found one attempt to do this via student media operating boards and their bylaws. Other UT system student newspapers have also been critical of their universities' response to protests last year and appear to not have faced any repercussions, but that may be because they are set up differently than the Mercury. The Mercury is supported by student fees and advertisements. It is housed under the university's Student Affairs Office and is allocated $65,000 annually. It is overseen by the Student Media Operating Board, which consists of five students and two faculty members. The student government president can recommend nominees to the board, but the university's vice president of Student Affairs has the final say on who serves. The Daily Texan is partially funded by UT-Austin and also has a university employee advising it. It, too, is overseen by a board where students hold the majority. But unlike the Mercury, students are elected by the student body to the board. The Daily Texan's editor-in-chief is also chosen that way. The Retrograde is pursuing a 501c3 nonprofit status, which few student media outlets around the country have. The Brechner Center counted 52 in 2024, including UT-San Antonio's Paisano. It operates under the Paisano Educational Trust, which has been a nonprofit since 1989. UT-Dallas does not offer a degree in journalism, but its students are no less committed to the field. They designed the Retrograde's website in two weeks while waiting for Olivares Gutierrez's appeal of his firing to play out. They refused to give the university the password for the Mercury's Instagram. They argued the account had been created and maintained by students, so it belonged to them. They renamed it and directed the Mercury's followers to the Retrograde's website when Olivares Gutierrez's appeal was denied. There, on Sept. 30, readers found coverage of the university similar to that of the Mercury's — a feature on an alumni-owned restaurant, an update on the latest actions of student government. They planned to continue publishing online biweekly until they raised enough money to print. The $900 advertisement FIRE took out in January allowed them to do that. In the lead-up to the publication, the university called the police on students for being in the now-empty Mercury office. It picked up Mercury kiosks from campus so they couldn't be used to distribute the Retrograde. Katherine Morales, UT-Dallas' associate vice president of media relations, said police were called after one student was repeatedly asked to leave the office and refused. She said it was after hours and the office was not a public space. No students were arrested. As for the kiosks, they're considered a limited public forum, but students and others in the community may distribute literature in the university's common areas. Oliveres Gutierrez said despite these hiccups, the students put out 1,900 copies of the Retrograde in the past two weeks and only 33 remained as of Monday. This has only caused the students to focus more on the Retrograde rather than returning to the Mercury. For Shaikh, building the Retrograde was scary and stressful at times, but worth it. She had worked her way up at the Mercury, earning $150 a month as a copy editor to $750 a month as managing editor. She was scared they would not be able to attract students to work for no pay. This has so far not ended up being the case. 'I remember ending up in tears a couple of times because there was so much we were unsure about,' she said. Shaikh, who now serves as the Retrograde's managing editor, is majoring in biochemistry; Olivares Gutierrez in political science and philosophy. Both said working at the Mercury helped them grow in ways their classes couldn't. 'It has really helped me break out of my shell and talk to people who I never would have even thought to talk to before,' Shaikh said. 'That has done so much for me and my confidence and my self growth that I really want for that option to exist in the future.' They also think an independent press must exist to keep UT-Dallas accountable. The main story of the Retrograde's inaugural print edition was the product of a public records request the students spent nearly $3,000 to receive. They expect to receive more records in the coming months and plan to review and report on them when they do. The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Disclosure: University of Texas - Dallas and University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
