The graduating Class of 2004 stands among the final group of
college students who experienced college life both before and after
the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The attacks changed nearly every facet of American life in some
way, including higher education. In the months and years that
followed, the nation grieved, as did the UCLA campus. And, after
some time, classes and campus life almost returned to normal.
But the attacks left an indelible mark on the face of higher
education in the United States ““ or rather, the faces of
higher education in the United States. The longest-lasting effect
of Sept. 11, 2001 on college and university campuses remains the
resultant drop in admitted foreign students.
Shortly after the attacks, Congress passed a bill known as the
USA Patriot Act, which has generated a firestorm of controversy for
its perceived violation of civil rights.
The bill gave the federal government the authority to track,
detain and prosecute suspected terrorists with fewer hindrances
than before the attacks.
In an effort to strengthen the security of U.S. borders, the
bill increased the monitoring and scrutiny of international
students studying at colleges and universities in the United
States.
Section 114 of the bill, titled the “Foreign Student
Monitoring Program,” made it more difficult for international
students to obtain student visas.
“Now the international students have to jump through more
hoops to actually enroll in a U.S. university,” said Cheryl
Darrup-Boychuck, CEO of Usjournal.com, an online tool designed to
help foreign students looking to study in the United States.
But, she said, this is not necessarily bad for higher
education.
“(The bill) will make the whole process better because the
better students with a more burning desire to get to the U.S. will
be able to, and those students who were marginal will take the path
of least resistance and go to countries with lower
standards,” she said.
A report released at the beginning of this school year by the
Institute of International Education revealed that U.S. colleges
and universities saw the smallest increase in the number of
enrolled international students in seven years. The institute said
the legislation resulting from the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks was one
of the primary causes of this decline.
When the Patriot Act eliminated many of the checks preventing
abuses of government authority, civil rights organizations worried
that it would infringe on civil rights.
The bill, which was signed into law on Oct. 26, 2001, was
characterized as a “rush job” by the Electronic
Frontier Foundation in an analysis of the bill.
“It seems clear that the vast majority of the sections
included were not carefully studied by Congress, nor was sufficient
time taken to debate it or to hear testimony from experts outside
of law enforcement in the fields where it makes major
changes,” the foundation said.
Legislation stalled last month during the reauthorization of the
Patriot Act when many Democratic and some Republican members of
Congress rejected efforts to expand the powers afforded by the
original Patriot Act.
Two months ago, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a
lawsuit challenging the Patriot Act, alleging that a section
allowing the FBI to obtain business records without a warrant was
unconstitutional. The lawsuit comes nearly a year after the ACLU
filed a similar lawsuit, the first of its kind against the
bill.
But many support the Patriot Act for its intention of protecting
the United States against terrorist attacks.
Darrup-Boychuck said she supports the overall intentions of the
bill, but has some reservations about certain elements of it,
including the revised fee structure for international students,
which costs them more money.
“I think international students invest enough,” she
said.