Faculty speaks out on pulling of scholar visas

An unexplained decision by the administration of University of North Texas (UNT) to terminate J-1 visas of Chinese scholars last week has led to opposition by some faculty members and an online petition calling for a reversal of the move.

Last Wednesday, a letter signed by Jennifer Evans-Cowley, provost and vice-president for academic affairs, and Mark McLellan, vice-president for research and innovation, was sent to Chinese scholars to notify them that UNT decided "to end its relationship with visiting scholars from the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC)".

The letter said that as a result, the Chinese scholars' access to UNT email, servers and other materials has been terminated. They have to be accompanied to go back to campus to collect personal items or for any business.

"The case would be another illustration of the US sabotaging people-to-people exchanges between the two countries for some time," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Tuesday.

Hua called it a pity that, out of their own political interests and desire to contain China, some extremist anti-China forces in the US have fabricated countless lies to smear and demonize Chinese students.

The spokeswoman said that China hopes the US will do more to promote mutual understanding. If the US decides to go further down the wrong path, its own interests will be harmed, she added.

A petition on change.org was started by Liang Yuheng, a UNT alumna living in Denton, a small city northwest of Dallas where UNT is located. It had gathered close to 5,000 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.

The decision impacts 15 Chinese scholars and researchers who are currently working with UNT. They were given a 30-day grace period from Aug 31 to leave the US.

Numerous UNT faculty members have signed the petition and voiced concerns.

Adam Briggle, associate professor and director of graduate studies of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at UNT, has been hosting one of the Chinese visiting scholars. He has hosted seven Chinese visiting scholars over the past nine years.

Briggle called the decision "unnecessarily blunt and abrupt".

"It is my understanding that there are no credible or specific allegations against any of the Chinese visiting scholars at UNT, let alone all of them. Any general security threats could be handled in a manner that does not entail the immediate termination of visas," he wrote in support of the petition.

Briggle is concerned that the pandemic will make it difficult and costly for the Chinese visiting scholars to leave the US on such short notice.

"It is not fair to upend the lives of these scholars – forcing them into perilous legal waters in the midst of a global pandemic – without any specific or credible evidence of wrongdoing," Briggle said.

Harold Tanner, a faculty member and former chair at the Department of History, raised similar concern. He also called the decision uncharacteristic of the school "which has, in the past, been very interested in building ties with China and in welcoming Chinese students and visiting scholars".

"This strange and unexplained action harms the university's reputation without contributing to any strategic interest of the university, the state of Texas, or the nation," Tanner said.

Art lecturer Mary Johnson said she believes in "the ongoing research collaborations between China and the US as well as global cooperation" and finds the decision "abrupt, broad-reaching and lacks transparency".

"It certainly does not consider the circumstances of the individuals this affects," she said.

Jason Kock, who signed the petition, called the decision "xenophobic at best and racist at worst".

In a radio interview on Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked if it would be "quicker" to just restrict all Chinese students from coming to the US, Pompeo hinted that it's a possibility.

"I don't want to get in front of decisions that the President is evaluating. Look, not every Chinese student who is here is working on behalf or at the behest of the direction of the Chinese Communist Party, but it's something President Trump has taken a serious, serious look at," Pompeo said.

Twitter user Jorge Guajardo wrote that "50 years from now, this will be considered by historians as one of the key factors why the US lost its technological and innovation edge. The US will turn into a laggard, rather than a leader."