The Remember Me Too movement aims to support international students at Minnesota State Mankato. There are currently 1,266 international students at the university, making up 9% of the total student population. 

Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, many of these students have lost their jobs and their families are no longer able to provide financial support. However, they still need to pay for food, university fees, rent, utility, and medical costs. In addition, many cannot return home due to travel bans. For those who can potentially return home, they risk not being able to return to continue their education after the pandemic due to new immigration policies if they leave. Due to visa restrictions, international students also have severely limited options for employment, leaving them without many options.

We are asking the university administration not to forget these students during this crisis and to recognize that, due to their unique circumstances, the university has a responsibility to provide them extra support at this time.

According to a 2018 report released by the International Institute of Education, international students contributed 41 million dollars and 232 jobs to the local economy. This is because of the high tuition, living, and healthcare expenses that come out of their pocket.  

To ensure the students can survive this challenging time, the Remember Me Too movement is putting forward the following requests to the Mankato community and the University.

1. Provide free food and hygienic items available for students in a safe and accessible manner.

2. Reduce tuition and fees for international students, allowing them to pay at the same rate as out of state students.

3.  Provide better availability of health care services, including having COVID-19 Testing available for students on campus. Provide health insurance coverage for emergency use.

4. Provide financial resources, including on-campus employment opportunities for all international students, emergency funds exclusively for international students to them bear expenses such as rent, utilities, medical bills, etc.

By signing this petition, you are supporting our efforts in lobbying the University administration to fulfill the community's needs.

Helpful links:

https://www.mankatofreepress.com/news/local_news/growth-in-international-students-continues-at-msu/article_d02eea98-e9ef-11e8-abda-436411c1fc8d.html (The specific study mentioned in there can be found here: https://www.iie.org/research-and-insights/open-doors/data/international-students/enrollment )

https://mankato.mnsu.edu/globalassets/global-education/kciss/pop-stats-20205.pdf

https://www.internationalstudent.com/study_usa/way-of-life/working-in-the-usa/

https://sway.office.com/44yYmS2FgVBpCmTa?ref=Link

https://www.mnsu.edu/shs/2019-1769-4_summary_brochure.pdf

https://mankato.mnsu.edu/academics/global-education/centers-of-global-education/international-student-services/rules-and-regulations/

https://mankato.mnsu.edu/academics/global-education/centers-of-global-education/international-student-services/new-students/

https://mankato.mnsu.edu/future-students/international-admissions/