Earlier tonight, College President Sian Leah Beilock and Provost David Kotz ’86 announced that the College will provide students and employees affected by immigration policy changes up to $2,000 toward the cost of consulting an immigration attorney. The College will “try to address special circumstances” if costs exceed $2,000.
Her email follows the Trump administration’s reversal of the revocation of more than 1,500 student visas across the country. The Dartmouth reported on April 7 that the Department of Homeland Security had revoked the student visa statuses of two community members at Dartmouth, including Ph.D. student Xiaotian Liu GR.
According to the email, affected community members at Dartmouth are already “starting to see” their Student and Exchange Visitor Information System records reinstated.
“We know that so many have feared for their ability to work and study in this country,” they wrote. “We hope this news brings a bit of relief to everyone.”
In an April 25 press release, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire — which filed a lawsuit on behalf of Liu — wrote that the organization cannot confirm where his status stands. A federal judge previously granted Liu a temporary restraining order on April 9, pausing the government’s revocation of his record.
“In Mr. Liu’s case, due to the developments that occurred today, there was an emergency status conference this afternoon,” the release wrote. “However, because we are unable to confirm at this time where his status stands, the court has extended the temporary restraining order until Tuesday to allow the parties time to discuss these questions and whether an agreement can be reached.”
Beilock also announced that she and other administrators will travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with the Association of American Universities this week. According to her email, administration members have already been “actively in meetings” in Washington, D.C., advocating for the reversal of visa revocations.
“It will be an opportunity for the leaders of our nation’s top research universities to discuss new and ongoing joint legal and advocacy work to support higher education,” they wrote.
She will also meet with elected officials and members of the Trump administration to “advocate on behalf of” the College, higher education and the “principles of academic freedom, … free expression and shared governance.”
Earlier this week, Beilock became the only Ivy League president to abstain from signing an open letter from the American Association of Colleges and Universities, a separate organization from the AAU, condemning the Trump administration’s revocations to federal funding from universities.
In a campus-wide email on April 23 explaining her reasons for abstaining from signing the letter, she wrote that although she “agree[s] with much of the open letter,” she believes that open form letters are “rarely effective tools to make change.”
“I prefer joining action-oriented coalitions, as we have done this past month, as part of two successful Association of American Universities lawsuits focused on National Institutes of Health and Department of Education indirect-cost rates,” she wrote.
Earlier this week, the Dartmouth Student Government passed a $15,000 student emergency fund — which some senators initially intended to be used to provide legal support for students impacted by immigration policy changes.
A College spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Kent Friel ‘26 is an executive editor at The Dartmouth.
Kelsey Wang is a reporter and editor for The Dartmouth from the greater Seattle area, majoring in history and government. Outside of The D, she likes to crochet, do jigsaw puzzles and paint.
