Student Union
Can Anonymous Classrooms Protect Students from Beijing Snooping?
With many American universities holding online courses this semester because of the pandemic, faculty members at Princeton, Harvard and other elite schools are looking for ways to protect the privacy and identity of students logging in from Hong Kong and China, where they are subject to China’s repressive rules on self-expression.
The Hong Kong National Security Law that passed in June allows Chinese authorities to prosecute any foreign institution, organization or individuals, regardless of their location, if they are involved in any action deemed to be a crime. Legal scholars say the law opens the door for a wide range of political prosecutions.
Samuel Chu, a Chinese American originally from Hong Kong, could be one of the first prosecuted. He faces an arrest warrant after he lobbied the U.S. Congress to punish China for undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy.
Faculty members at several top universities want to protect those taking their courses from ending up in a similar position. They are proposing options for students who may be concerned about being punished for their personal views.
In a recently published article, faculty from Harvard University, Princeton University, Amherst College, Syracuse University and Texas University at Austin proposed allowing students to opt out of class discussions without affecting their grades and enabling students to participate anonymously in virtual classroom discussions.
'Warning labels'
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that a professor at the University of Pennsylvania is considering incorporating “warning labels” for potentially sensitive information into the class syllabus.
The moves are raising concerns that China’s new expansive security laws are eroding academic freedom in the United States.
“I think it is very troubling that they would, for instance, place warning labels on classes that Beijing might consider sensitive,” said Christopher Balding, an associate professor at Fulbright University Vietnam who also taught in China for nine years.
“That is indicative of a creepy censorship by Beijing. Even if it's not explicit, even if it is not mandated by law, it is very clearly indicative of the influence that Beijing censorship is having in the United States,” Balding said.
Aaron Ach, a member of the Princeton class of 2019, wrote a thesis on China’s foreign policy. He told VOA that that open conversations with his Chinese classmates were vital to his work.
“So, while I don't think it's necessarily an overreaction, I am concerned that universities’ efforts to anonymize classroom participation in light of this national security object directive, rather, is a signal from highly respected, highly globalized elite U.S. universities to Beijing that Beijing can have its way,” Ach said.
VOA contacted Harvard Business School, Amherst College and Princeton University about their official policies on protecting the identities of students and faculty but has not received a response.
In an email to VOA, Meg Rithmire, an associate professor at Harvard Business School and one of the co-authors of the article, noted that the measures can be implemented in a targeted manner without disrupting non-sensitive classroom discussions.
“The important thing … is not just letting anyone 'opt out' of any conversation,” she wrote. She said there should be ways to allow “conversations on issues the Chinese government (or other governments) deem out of bounds while protecting legal risks to students.”
Missing opportunity?
Some also argue that by taking the additional measures, universities may also be missing an opportunity to speak out against Beijing’s national security law, or even are giving tacit support to China’s censorship.
“The U.S. government and U.S. universities have a unique opportunity right now … to condemn a Chinese foreign policy that not only threatens the well-being of Chinese students who are seeking an education in the U.S., but also that threatens to undermine the academic missions and the liberal arts foundations of elite U.S. institutions,” Ach said.
Balding said that although the universities’ desire to protect their students is reasonable, the schools also have rarely spoken out against Beijing’s policies in the past, which makes their recent actions more troublesome.
“(American) universities have absolutely no track record of speaking out about China. They have no track record about how they have sought to address historical concerns about Chinese behavior,” Balding said. “And they appear intent on engaging in a series of practices, such as accepting Chinese money and hiding it in violation of U.S. law, as well as other practices such as arguing against reasonable visa restrictions against PLA graduate students in science programs in the United States.”
This year, the Department of Justice has announced a series of prosecutions against academics who hid ties to Beijing, as well as Chinese funding.
Ach, now a cybersecurity professional, said the problem of protecting academic freedom from Chinese surveillance is becoming much bigger than just a few university courses.
He said that ultimately, both the U.S. government and universities must keep China off their networks in the first place.
“That will mean not only hardening cyber defenses and spending more on security, but it also means that the U.S. government and U.S. universities will have to work together and go to greater lengths to protect the Chinese, and frankly, other students who are apparently of interest to the Chinese state,” he said.
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Harvard students end protest as school agrees to discuss Gaza conflict
Protesters against the war between Israel and Hamas were voluntarily taking down their tents in Harvard Yard on Tuesday after university officials agreed to discuss their questions about the endowment, bringing a peaceful end to the kinds of demonstrations that were broken up by police on other campuses.
The student protest group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine said in a statement that the encampment "outlasted its utility with respect to our demands." Meanwhile, Harvard University interim President Alan Garber agreed to pursue a meeting between protesters and university officials regarding the students' questions.
Students at many college campuses this spring set up similar encampments, calling for their schools to cut ties with Israel and businesses that support it.
The Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages. Palestinian militants still hold about 100 captives, and Israel's military has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Harvard said its president and the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Hopi Hoekstra, will meet with the protesters to discuss the conflict in the Middle East.
The protesters said they worked out an agreement to meet with university officials, including the Harvard Management Company, which oversees the world's largest academic endowment, valued at about $50 billion.
The protesters' statement said the students will set an agenda that includes discussions on disclosure, divestment, reinvestment and the creation of a Center for Palestine Studies. The students also said that Harvard has offered to retract suspensions of more than 20 students and student workers and back down on disciplinary measures faced by 60 more.
"Since its establishment three weeks ago, the encampment has both broadened and deepened Palestine solidarity organizing on campus," a spokesperson for the protesters said. "It has moved the needle on disclosure and divestment at Harvard."
Chinese students report interrogations, deportations at US airports
Academics from China are reporting increased scrutiny at U.S. airports, with valid visa holders being interrogated and turned away by Customs and Border Protection Agents.
Phones and laptops have been searched, and researchers have undergone extensive questioning about their work. One graduate student at Yale, who was midway through her PhD, was turned back at Dulles airport and banned from entering the U.S. for five years, according to The Guardian.
- By Phil Mercer
Australia plans limits on international students
Australia says it will impose limits on the number of international students coming into the country to ease stress on housing and to reduce immigration.
The government in Canberra has said that international education programs, under which foreign students come to study in Australia, were fertile ground for immigration and visa fraud.
In 2023, official figures show that 787,000 international students studied in Australia, exceeding levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Canberra government plans to cap the number of overseas students to ease stress on rental accommodation and to curb levels of immigration.
Senior government ministers have said caps for education would be part of a broader plan to manage migration, increase the availability of housing and to address skills shortages in the economy.
However, the university sector has insisted the proposals would damage Australia's global reputation as a welcoming, safe and world-class destination for students from other countries.
Education has been one of Australia’s most lucrative exports, but the left-leaning government in Canberra has said the international education sector, which includes many smaller private English language colleges, vocational and training institutions as well as larger universities, has been used as a way for unskilled migrants to stay in Australia.
Michael Wesley, the deputy vice chancellor at the University of Melbourne, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Tuesday that he hopes the government will target unscrupulous education providers.
“We welcome the crackdown on non-genuine education providers, which provide a backdoor into permanent residency for people who are not genuine students," Wesley said. "We are confident that all of our international students are genuine students and, so, we would hope that the impact of these visa caps will be at the non-genuine end of the education sector.”
Rental accommodation in many of Australia’s larger cities is often expensive and in short supply.
Analysts have said that surging prices are the result of years of underinvestment in affordable housing.
Education institutions would be required to build accommodations for their students if they wanted to exceed limits of the caps. Specific quotas for international students have not yet been made public.
The government in Canberra said it will change Australia’s Education Services for Overseas Students Act to give the education minister the authority to set limits on student enrolments for each education establishment, including specific courses or locations.
The majority of overseas students in Australia come from five countries: China, India, Nepal, the Philippines and Vietnam, according to government data. They contribute billions of dollars to the Australian economy.
Canada limits international student visas
Saying the country has seen a massive spike in temporary immigrants – such as foreign workers – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced caps on international student visas.
Canada hosted more than 1 million international students in 2023, according to the Washington Post. That’s the same number as the United States, a country eight times its size. (April 2023)
Protests dwindle to tiny numbers, subtle defiant acts at US college graduations
A tiny contingent of Duke University graduates opposed pro-Israel comedian Jerry Seinfeld speaking at their commencement in North Carolina Sunday, with about 30 of the 7,000 students leaving their seats and chanting "free Palestine" amid a mix of boos and cheers.
Some waved the red, green, black and white Palestinian flag. Seinfeld, whose decade-long namesake show became one of the most popular in U.S. television history and who continues to draw legions of fans to his Netflix specials and TV appearances such as "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," was there to receive an honorary doctorate from the university.
"After spending four years at what is considered one of the finest institutions of higher education in the world, they apparently feel that perhaps some light entertainment will get you all to the final realization, 'You know, I think I've really had enough of this place,'" Seinfeld said.
The stand-up turned actor and recent star, director and co-writer of the movie "Unfrosted," has publicly supported Israel since it invaded Gaza to dismantle Hamas after the organization attacked the country and killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel on Oct. 7. The ensuing war has killed nearly 35,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Students at campuses across the U.S. responded this spring by setting up encampments and calling for their schools to cut ties with Israel and businesses that support it. Students and others on campuses whom law enforcement authorities have identified as outside agitators have taken part in the protests from Columbia University in New York City to UCLA.
At the University of California, Berkeley, on Saturday, a small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators waved flags and chanted during commencement and were escorted to the back of the stadium, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. There were no major counterprotests, but some attendees voiced frustration.
"I feel like they're ruining it for those of us who paid for tickets and came to show our pride for our graduates," said Annie Ramos, whose daughter is a student. "There's a time and a place, and this is not it."
The small student protest Sunday at Duke's graduation in Durham, North Carolina, was emblematic of campus events across the U.S. Sunday after weeks of student protests roiled U.S. campuses in recent weeks and resulted in nearly 2,900 arrests at 57 colleges and universities.
This weekend's commencement events remained largely peaceful.
At Emerson College in Boston, some students took off their graduation robes and left them on stage. Others emblazoned "free Palestine" on their mortar boards. One woman, staring at a camera broadcasting a livestream to the public, unzipped her robe to show a kaffiyeh, the black and white checkered scarf commonly worn by Palestinians, and flashed a watermelon painted on her hand. Both are symbols of solidarity with those living in the occupied territories.
Others displayed messages for a camera situated on stage, but the livestream quickly shifted to a different view, preventing them from being seen for long. Chants during some of the speeches were difficult to decipher.
Protests at Columbia University, where student uprisings inspired others at campuses across the country, led the school to cancel its main graduation ceremony in favor of smaller gatherings.
The University of Southern California told its valedictorian, who publicly backed Palestinians, that she could not deliver her keynote speech at its graduation ceremony because of security concerns. It later canceled its main graduation ceremony.
At Depaul University in Chicago, graduation is more than a month away. But as the academic year closes, school leaders said they had reached an "impasse" with the school's pro-Palestinian protesters, leaving the future of their encampment on the Chicago campus unclear.
The student-led DePaul Divestment Coalition, which is calling on the university to divest from economic interests tied to Israel, set up the encampment nearly two weeks ago. The group alleged university officials walked away from talks and tried to force students into signing an agreement, according to a student statement late Saturday.
