As the United States and other leading world powers formulate strategies to restrict Iran’s nuclear programs, the University of Massachusetts Amherst has taken it upon itself to contribute to solving nuclear threats from Iran.
UMass announced a new policy Feb. 6 that prohibits Iranian national students from pursuing graduate degrees in the university’s chemical, computer and mechanical engineering programs or the natural sciences. While this decree is a stark contrast from the United States’ freedom policies, the policy is in keeping with a 2012 policy passed by U.S. Congress and clarified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security policy passed in 2012.
“Colleges and universities in the U.S. have found that Iranian students who travel abroad during their studies are being denied reentry by the Department of Homeland Security as a result of these and other regulations,” the policy stated. “There are significant penalties, both civil and criminal, that could potentially impact faculty, staff and students, for violations of this Act and the related regulations and restrictions.”
Generally, it is the government’s responsibility to control the issuing of visas for students to partake in these opportunities. However, in the case of UMass’s, the university would be rejecting these students before they even have a chance to apply for a visa.
While it is unclear what makes UMass’s graduate programs in these fields so unique, it is the only school known thus far to develop such restrictions. Other schools attach advisories to internationals alongside applications to warn that although they may apply for the programs, the U.S. State Department ultimately has the final word on whether or not they may come to the United States to pursue those interests.
“All visa applications are reviewed individually in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act and other relevant laws that establish detailed standards for determining eligibility for visas and admission to the United States,” an unnamed U.S. State department official told The Boston Globe Friday. “U.S. law does not prohibit qualified Iranian nationals coming to the United States for education in science and engineering … Each application is reviewed on a case-by-case basis.”
So it’s true that Iran has posed a nuclear threat. Since 2002, when investigators discovered uranium enrichment plants throughout the nation, countries across the world have engaged in talks to convince Iran to contract its nuclear program. While Iran said that the program is for peaceful purposes, most countries believe that Iran is looking to build a bomb, a decidedly not peaceful construction project.
Yet the sentiments of a national government are rarely reflective of every individual’s feelings, and it is doubtful that every Iranian looking to pursue a degree in engineering is looking to build a bomb.
UMass may justify this policy with protecting the nation, but such a bold movement of education discrimination may do more harm than good. While the chances that the next terrorist will be a graduate of UMass are pretty slim, the school has now made a pretty bold statement in generalizing all Iranians as potential terrorists, and the chances that Iran won’t look kindly upon such a statement are already coming into fruition.
After people found out that the terrorists behind the 9/11 attacks had learned to fly planes on American soil, everyone wondered how the United States could ever let that happen. Maybe UMass wants to avoid being the college that educated the next terrorist to drop a bomb on the United States. Still, if someone has taken it upon himself or herself to learn how to build a bomb, getting rejected from one college program based on his or her nationality will probably not stop them from finding an alternative route.
Considering that there was no pressure from the U.S. State Department to pass such a policy and that UMass is a public university, the idea that they would make such a strong political statement on their own behalf is confounding. The United States has long boasted itself as the land of opportunity, where anybody is free to receive an education and take on new opportunities with the knowledge they gained.
UMass may be looking to prevent the threat of terrorism, but the university’s assumption that every Iranian national looking to major in engineering is also looking to build a bomb speaks to the larger threat of educational freedom.
