Boston University confirmed a number of student visas have been terminated, adding to the number of international students across Boston and nationwide whose visas were revoked.
Twenty years ago, The Daily Free Press published an editorial accusing the Boston University Police Department of “racial profiling” and a “lack of skill.”
The piece outlined the 1984 killing of 19-year-old Christopher Dignan by a BUPD officer, detailing double-standards extended to University police and noting their routine targeting of minorities on BU’s campus.
Reports of a United States Department of Homeland Security officer on Boston University’s campus Thursday afternoon, which coincided with a planned student-led walkout calling for BU to designate itself as a sanctuary campus, intensified concerns over Immigration and Customs Enforcement on campus.
With the recent executive crackdown on universities for pro-Palestine activism, the incident with Phillips’ signage sparked dialogue among BU faculty and students over administrative responses to free speech on campus.
At Boston University, a hot spot for pro-Israel and pro-Palestine student activism, the events at Columbia have raised pressing questions around student protesters’ First Amendment protections and the response of University authorities to federal orders.
