Due to recent decisions made by the federal government regarding non-immigrant F-1 and M-1 visa holders, we believe that Miami University should offer a 1-credit course with one meeting per semester, available to all international students, that would allow them to stay on campus come this fall. This would allow international students at Miami to fulfill all legal obligations relative to their F-1/M-1 visa’s without jeopardizing their health and safety here in the United States. 

According to the US Commerce department, international students contributed upwards of $45 billion to the US economy in 2018, and small, college-based communities like Oxford will be hit particularly hard by their absence. We believe it is in everybody’s best interest to allow international students to return to campus this fall without fears of deportation. International students make our communities stronger, and their presence is valued on our campus. As such, we believe it is the University’s responsibility to do everything in their power to ensure their safe return to campus in 6 weeks. The creation of this class would yield great benefits to the university, and thus, we encourage Miami to explore this path forward to protect our International Students.