A Take on Education, Migration, and Immigration...What Connects America to the World and Why

Issue 5: May 19, 2021

May is graduation time in the U.S. so this issue is focused on education—my favorite topic!

Two newsletters back I had asked you to weigh in on two questions: What are the intersections of public diplomacy, how the U.S. presents itself to the world, and the domestic issues of social (in)justice that we are currently facing? What motivation do universities have to be international beyond the outcome-driven incentives of revenue from international students and growing their rankings? I received a thoughtful and beautifully written response from Manail Anis Ahmed, a former international student in the U.S. who is currently based in Saudi Arabia. I am turning this space over to her for a guest post. Manail writes:

Universities are America’s greatest hope for person-to-person engagement with a world that is increasingly more and more aligned with everyone but America. When I came to Swarthmore College as an undergraduate from Pakistan in 1996, American exceptionalism meant not only that its troops were everywhere and that its foreign policy was one of disregarding people’s wishes over realpolitik. It also meant that going to university there meant one had ‘made it’ in academic terms. Sure, people were starting to head to Canada, the UK, Australia and even Russia, China and Malaysia in larger numbers, but it was still American that held the top spot. If you got into college in America, you would be sure to interact with students from every other country imaginable, get a top notch education, at least some work experience in the US, followed, if you were so inclined, by a promising start to your career in your home country, if not the country of your choosing – visa constraints notwithstanding.

It also meant that if you were lucky (the visa net was at that point starting to tighten around foreign graduates of American universities) you would get to stay on in the US and make your life there. You would not be alone – generations of those who had gone before you – from your own country of origin, and almost every other one on the planet, would be standing by to welcome you and help you integrate into life in one of the most successful melting pot experiments around the world. People would correct themselves trying to pronounce your name right. They would apologize if they did not recognize the name of your country, or where on the map it was found. And they would learn from you, willingly, about your origins, culture, and customs, and share some of their own. At its heart, America welcomed international students and recognized that through their success, it would build on its own.

For whatever reason, that is not the sentiment one experiences in the country now. As a result of years of systemic inequity, an aging public-school infrastructure and curriculum, and a generally unfit-for-purpose national human capital development agenda, America now feels like a very different place. As I see it, universities can help correct some of this imbalance – by welcoming and integrating both the best international students and the most suited curricular and research agendas towards the country’s rejuvenation of its larger workforce and equity development efforts. Foreign students don’t just translate to fees and rankings for American universities – they both, smartly deployed, can jointly be at the heart of the social justice agenda for many years to come.

Manail Anis Ahmed

(I welcome your thoughts and feedback, just the way Manail shared hers)

In Memoriam: Vartan Gregorian

Last month the U.S. lost an important scholar, philanthropic leader, and prominent immigrant. Born of Armenian parents in Iran, Vartan Gregorian received his early education in Lebanon and then arrived at Stanford University in the 1950s to study further. A historian by training and an academic leader at institutions such as the University of Pennsylvania and Brown University (where he was the first foreign-born President), Dr. Gregorian is known most recently for having led the Carnegie Corporation since 1997. I remember meeting Dr. Gregorian a few times and his gentle, soft-spoken, and humble demeanor belied his significant accomplishments. In awe of him, I called him “Dr. Gregorian,” but he insisted that I call him by his first name. What I did not know then was the role that Dr. Gregorian had played in restoring a beloved New York City institution, the New York Public Library, whose leadership he took on in the early eighties to restore it to its current glory—no one can miss the imposing building flanked by the two marble lions, Patience and Fortitude, and bordered by Bryant Park. I have always valued libraries but feel particularly grateful to Dr. Gregorian as the entire research for my first book, The Raj on the Move: Story of the Dak Bungalow, was conducted deep within the recesses of the beautiful Rose Reading Room and archives where I was able to read British travel journals dating back to the 1700s. A fitting tribute to his legacy, this essay—Teachers Create the Future of America—was the last essay he wrote and which was in press at the time of his death. 

Highlights

• Diaspora impact: The COVID-19 crisis in India continues, but it has also been a moment of unparalleled support and mobilization within the Indian diaspora. A big shout-out to Indiaspora which has raised $3million through their ChaloGive! Campaign, and other efforts like Sonia Faleiro’s Artists for India.
• Join us! Immigrant healthcare workers and researchers have been critical to getting America through the pandemic, yet they continue to face numerous immigration challenges. Join me and other panelists such as Dr. David Skorton, CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges; Azan Virji, Founder of F-1 Doctors; and others as we discuss this critical issue at an event organized by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.Sign up for the event here.
• Congratulations to all Graduates! I was honored to deliver commencement remarks to the graduating cohort of the Master’s in International Education Program at George Washington University. It was a very moving and inspiring experience to hear from students and their families. You can read my remarks here.

  Stunning Statistic  

It is Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) month in the U.S. and a great moment to highlight the excellent data put out by the group AAPI Data. Some of their latest analysis shows that AAPIs had the largest increase in voter turnout in the 2020 elections, and I'm very proud to say that Indian Americans reported the highest rates of voting, at 71%, among adult citizens.

Have you ordered your copy yet?

America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibility (Pub. date: Sep. 14, 2021)

Available for pre-order: Amazon, IndieBound, Bookshop.org