The Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF)’s recent statement on the proposed Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act was a part of an NBC News story that featured the voices of those who would be most harmed by these policies: students.
The article, Chinese students slam GOP bill that would ban them from U.S. schools, say it’s ‘new Chinese Exclusion Act’, focuses on how efforts such as this have heightened concerns about safety and the research climate for international students. Students, who remained anonymous, say they came to the U.S. seeking freedom and feel unfairly targeted.
“I think it’s just blatant racism and xenophobia,” said one Chinese student who recently graduated from a D.C.-area university and requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation. “We are not spies. We are students who want to get a better education.”
In the article, Gisela Kusakawa, Executive Director of the Asian American Scholar Forum, cautioned about the impact of efforts to ban these students: “We cannot afford to cut off this pipeline of talent and exclude such an integral part of our American community. To do so would be to turn our backs on the very ideals that have made America a global leader in innovation and discovery.”
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Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) is a national nonprofit that promotes academic belonging, freedom, and equality for all. In response to heightened anti-Asian sentiments and profiling in the U.S., AASF has been a leading national voice fighting for the rights of Asian American and immigrant scientists, researchers, and scholars. AASF membership includes members from the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Science, and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, in addition to past and current university presidents, provosts, vice provosts, deans, associate deans, and past and current department chairs.
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