I have childhood memories of patriotic assemblies at Southwest Philly’s Longstreth Elementary School. We sang America the Beautiful and God Bless America. I was given the honor one year of reciting The American’s Creed, written by William Tyler Page in 1913 and the winning entry in a patriotic contest which passed as a resolution by U.S. House of Representatives on April 3, 1917. It reads in part:

“I believe in the United States of America, as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose powers are derived from the consent of the governed … established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes ….”

As I typed these words, they resonated in my memory, conjuring up my 8-year-old self proudly reciting them. My patriotism has always involved what the Creed calls “humanity” — basic human kindness — and support for the mosaic of different cultures unified by commitment to the ideals in the U. S. Constitution. Later my husband and I took our own children to Liberty State Park in Jersey City to view the Statue of Liberty, symbolizing the welcome their great-grandparents received when they arrived on these shores and the hospitality we would continue to offer as patriotic citizens.

International students contribute to university life

As a student at Penn, I learned much from the international students in my classes. Later as a professor and university president, I welcomed students from around the world to campus. At the regional public universities I led, living and studying with students from India, China and elsewhere enhanced the education of local students, who benefitted from having friends who had grown up in very different geographical settings. At Governors State University, for example, foreign students helped us fulfill our mission to offer “an exceptional and accessible education that prepares students with the knowledge, skills and confidence to succeed in a global society.” And, by the way, local Illinois students also benefited financially from the fact that most international students paid full tuition, in effect subsidizing the education of Illinois residents.

As a patriotic American citizen, I am deeply dismayed by Trump’s war on international students. It’s somewhat comforting that only a day after Trump’s abrupt revocation of Harvard’s ability to enroll international students, the University successfully sued the Trump administration to block the move. And yet Representative Randy Fine (R, Florida), a Harvard alumnus, who had himself benefitted from gaining two degrees from a world-class university, cheered on the narrowing of his alma mater’s student body, saying on FOX Business that the administration should “do this (ban international students) everywhere.”

Across higher education, colleges and universities are fearful that the Trump administration will do just that, discouraging and outright expelling international students, who enrich the education for all. On May 23, Penn emailed international students affirming university support and called the government’s actions against Harvard “deeply concerning.”

The email went on to “reaffirm, clearly and unequivocally, the University of Pennsylvania’s deep commitment to our international community. You are essential to the intellectual vibrancy and global strength of our campus, and we value the contributions you make to every part of university life.”

In the Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn sophomore David Tran called for even stronger action:

Penn boasts an international student and scholar population of 9,143 as of fall 2024 … Their presence is not supplementary to Penn’s mission — it is essential to it, in principle and practice … Penn must quickly establish a focused emergency legal fund and task force to support students whose visa statuses are threatened or revoked.

Clearly Tran sees international students, not as a threat, but as a benefit to his education.

I remember a time — Wait, was it just a year ago? — when the United States was proud to attract scholars from all over the world to make us “winners” (a favorite Trumpian word) in the international competition for research advances in health, commerce, industry — in all fields. Our universities attracted the best and brightest to undergraduate and graduate study. Often these students remained here to help make the United States a leader in every field of endeavor.

Let’s look at a recent example. Katalin Karikó, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, is a Hungarian-American, who was a postdoctoral fellow at Temple University from 1985 to 88. She then worked at Johns Hopkins University and later at Penn. Her work at Penn with Drew Weissman was the basic research that led to a Covid vaccine that saved millions of lives. It also made millions of dollars for Penn.

Philadelphia-area campuses stand to lose mightily from the federal government’s enmity toward international students

In the New York Times’ “The Morning” newsletter, Washington, D.C. correspondent Michael C. Bender states the major argument against the Trump administration’s negative message to foreign students:

But university officials say the administration’s approach is a threat to academic freedom — and an attack on some of the longest-held tenets of American culture. College campuses incubate new ideas because they welcome experimentation and novelty. Attracting high-caliber students from all over the world has been one of the greatest sources of the nation’s academic, economic and scientific strength for more than a century.

If we want the United States to be a winner on the world stage, we must oppose the politics of fear and hatred. The American’s Creed echoes through the corridors of my memory. The powers of the U. S. government are derived from the consent of the governed. We cannot define patriotism as exclusion. We cannot give our consent to the mean-spirited and unconstitutional actions that threaten not only Harvard, but all U.S. colleges and universities.

What we can do:

• • Contact Congressional representatives and urge them to protect the independence of U.S. colleges and universities.
  • Study the House “Big Beautiful Bill,” now under consideration by the U.S. Senate. Protest to senators about the many anti-higher education provisions in the bill. Insist on amendments that protect higher education.
  • Help change the narrative about immigrants and international students. In conversation with friends and neighbors, tell stories about positive interactions with newcomers.
  • Help change the narrative about patriotism, which cannot and should not be defined by MAGA prejudices.

Elaine Maimon, Ph.D., is the author of Leading Academic Change: Vision, Strategy, Transformation. Her long career in higher education has encompassed top executive positions at public universities as well as distinction as a scholar in rhetoric/composition. Her co-authored book, Writing In The Arts and Sciences, has been designated as a landmark text. She is a Distinguished Fellow of the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum.

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