Following a call to action from its Iranian students, a top university in the United States has decided to reject President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
The group of students wrote to the University of Texas at Austin last month to demand that it immediately respond to Trump’s “sweeping and discriminatory” ban, support Iranian students and scholars, and write back in a letter.
On behalf of the newly admitted Iranian students, interim university president Jim Davis received the letter on July 21 a day after Trump enacted an executive order outlawing citizens from all 12 nations, including Iran.
“This Proclamation undermines the very foundations of UT Austin.” Iranian students and researchers have long been a key component of the university’s academic and research excellence, particularly in STEM fields, the letter stated.
In a “testament to the enduring legacy of Iranian American contributions to education, innovation, and public service,” the group wrote in the letter that the university’s department of civil, architectural, and environmental engineering was named after Iranian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist Fariborz Maseeh.
The letter stated that “this is a moment that calls for bold and principled action.”
Iranian students’ academic contributions have long been beneficial for UT Austin. It must now defend them. Not only does failing to act risk harming the reputation of the institution itself, but it also risks harming the futures of individual students.
The letter was obtained by requesting access to public records.
The university and Davis have not made any public comments on the ban despite the students’ requests.
A request for comment was not received by Davis’ office.
Almost all of the Iranians who attended the University of Texas at Austin were graduate students, according to the university’s website.
The University of Texas at Austin, one of the most prestigious tertiary institutions in the US, placed 30th in the 2025 University Rankings by US News and World Report.
We now face the heartbreaking possibility of being denied entry for a long time, an Iranian student who was involved in the letter, a request for anonymity from an Iranian student who was involved in the letter.
The student claimed that many of the 1,500 Iranian students who belong to the group on Telegram were subjected to lengthy administrative processing after the interview.
Some of them have been denied visas, while others have chosen to skip interviews because they knew they would not be granted one, according to the student.
Many of them would have gone through extensive security checks before the ban on applying for student visas.
Trump’s travel ban also applies to Eritrea, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen in addition to Iran.
The Trump administration is “collective punishment,” the student claimed.
The student argued that “people should not be equated with their governments.”
These blanket measures “undermine the very principles of justice, academic freedom, and equal opportunity that the United States has long fought for,” they claim.
Source: Aljazeera
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