Florida State University President Thrasher met last week with most of the 60 FSU international students from the countries affected by the administration’s recent executive order. The President expressed his concern about this issue and assured the students that FSU is an inclusive and welcoming environment. He also shared what he and the administration had been doing to try and assist the one student who was unable to renew his student visa because he was visiting his home country when the order was signed. President Thrasher shared the letter he sent to Secretary John Kelly of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to request his help with the situation. President Thrasher has known Secretary Kelly since he spoke at an FSU commencement ceremony several years ago. In addition, he shared that both US Senators from the state of Florida were trying to assist the student who is now waiting for his visa to be issued. Hopefully, he will receive his visa and return to FSU soon.

Behtash Shakeri, the President of the Iranian Student Association, read a statement thanking President Thrasher, Vice President Mary Coburn and the Center for Global Engagement staff for addressing the concerns students have been facing.   

As a follow up to the issues regarding the executive order, the Center for Global Engagement and the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights invite the FSU community to attend “A Dialogue on Contemporary Immigration Concerns” on Monday, Feb. 13, at 5:30 in the Globe Auditorium. The guest speaker will be Mr. Ehsan Zaffar, a senior policy officer for the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties within DHS.