Three international undergraduate students have been given the pseudonyms Jessica, Samantha and Tom. They each have been granted anonymity to speak candidly about their experiences.
Concerns about potential travel bans under the Trump administration have caused “a lot of anxiety” among international students, according to an undergraduate from Myanmar — who will be referred to as Jessica in this article. On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that tasked the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice and State to identify countries that “warrant a partial or full suspension” on the admission of their citizens into the United States, according to the White House.
During his first term, Trump blocked nationals with certain visa types from several countries — including Myanmar, Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela and Yemen — from entering the United States. The initial travel ban caused more than 700 travelers to be detained and up to 60,000 visas to be “provisionally revoked,” according to the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs.
Following the initial ban, more than 200 Dartmouth students, faculty and community members gathered on Main Street in protest on Feb. 4, 2017. Former College President Phil Hanlon also co-signed a letter from 47 university presidents asking Trump to “rectify or rescind” the executive order and advised affected students to avoid all international travel.
By December 2024, several peer institutions — including Cornell University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California — had issued advisories to international students encouraging them to return to the United States prior to Trump’s second inauguration amid speculation of travel and visa restrictions, according to The New York Times.
However, international students at Dartmouth reported that they did not receive communication from the College about possible impacts to international travel under the Trump administration prior to Trump’s inauguration. An international student from Central Asia — who will be referred to as Samantha in this article — said she heard “nothing” from the administration for “weeks.”
“I felt, as a demographic, we were not intentionally ignored, but forgotten,” Samantha said.
In an email statement to The Dartmouth, College spokesperson Jana Barnello wrote that the Office of Visa and Immigration Services “sent important reminders” to international students, faculty and staff on Jan. 31, has been “regularly posting updates online” and hosted a “Know Your Rights” information session on Feb. 5.
“International students, faculty and staff are integral and highly valued members of the Dartmouth community — directly contributing to the learning and discovery that is at the heart of our mission,” Barnello wrote.
Barnello directed international students to reach out to OVIS and the newly formed International Student Experience team for guidance. She also highlighted an email from senior vice president and senior diversity officer Shontay Delalue to international students on Jan. 18 and a campus-wide email from senior vice president for community and campus life Jennifer Rosales and chief health and wellness office Estevan Garcia on Feb. 6. The former stated that OVIS will keep its website updated with immigration-related changes, while the latter directed “international community members” to OVIS, International Student Experience and a document detailing the protocol for visits from government and law enforcement agencies.
The division of Institutional Diversity and Equity, the Office of Plurality and Leadership and OVIS directed requests for comment to Barnello.
According to student reports, concerns about travel restrictions have led some Dartmouth students to modify their D-Plans to ensure they can remain in the country. An international student — who will be referred to as Tom in this article — said he chose to withdraw from his winter foreign study program after reading an article about travel advisories from other institutions. He said he was “stressed” because he only had “a few days” to make a decision since, at the time, the College was closing for winter break.
“This is a decision that could completely change one’s life path and trajectory,” Tom said. “It would be really nice if the College advised students on potential steps and their risks.”
Although he shared his concerns with OVIS, the Guarini Institute for International Education, the professor leading his FSP and his undergraduate dean, he said they told him he had to “make the decision [himself]” — a response that made him feel “uncertain” and “isolated,” he said.
“Everyone was nice to me,” Tom said. “But it always felt like, at the end of the day, it was just me. I was making the decision, and I would have to face the consequences regardless of what happens, and no one could advise me.”
Tom emphasized the need for the College to “give students every resource possible, every angle possible” because students far from their home “don’t know how all of this works.”
Other students shared Tom’s desire for “personalized solutions.” According to Jessica, her friends at other schools received “specialized emails” that provided country-specific advice to students. For example, she said her friends from Myanmar at other institutions had received emails offering specific guidance for navigating international travel and student visas for Burmese nationals — which are only valid for a year. Because travel and immigration restrictions can be issued without prior notice, students are worried about not getting visas renewed or not being able to come back if they leave, Jessica added.
According to Barnello, a “core group of Dartmouth leaders” is meeting weekly to review “any changes, or proposed changes, to immigration policies that might affect our community.”
“As we learn of direct impacts to community members, the appropriate office or leader will communicate directly with those affected,” Barnello wrote.
Jessica explained that it is especially difficult to be a student from one of the potentially affected countries because there are few students from those countries at Dartmouth.
“You don’t even know who to turn to because it seems like the administration doesn’t really know what’s going on with your situation,” Jessica said. “You feel like you’re not represented.”
