Yes, I see no reason why colleges and universities should not require background checks on foreign students prior to their admission.
Clyde W. Barrow *

There are nearly 500,000 foreign students attending post-secondary institutions in the United States. For most, once their passport is stamped at the U.S. border, there is no follow up by the Immigration and Naturalization Service or by the sponsoring higher education institution.

This is not an abstract concern. Several of the September 11 hijackers entered the United States under the guise of attending a school, college, or university.

In addition, among the people detained since September 11 for suspected terrorist links, many have been detained for technical violations of the J1 visa and their alleged activities range from fundraising for terrorist organizations to recruiting sympathetic foreign students to conduct terrorist activities in the US. There is no question that the current student visa system is subject to abuse.

Background checks are commonplace in many industries and occupations in this country. Aside from high-security defense-related industries, many states now require criminal background checks on nannies and day care workers. The private employment agencies that bring foreign temporary workers to the United States on H2B visas to work in the seasonal resort industry routinely conduct background checks before sponsoring such workers.

Let's remember that we are talking about a background check—not surveillance, wiretapping, or other intrusions on privacy. Given the ability of many of the September 11 terrorists to conceal their identities, such a system will not be foolproof, but it is one mechanism in a comprehensive counter-terrorist policy.

* Clyde W. Barrow is director of the Center for Policy Analysis and professor of policy studies at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. His latest book, Globalisation, Trade Liberalisation, and Higher Education in North America will be published in 2002.

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No, colleges and universities need to expend their energies fulfilling their educational missions, which do not include investigating students.
Elaine Daniels *

Institutions of higher education don't have the expertise or resources to conduct the extensive background searches necessary to be effective in protecting against terrorism.

Further, colleges performing background checks on incoming international students could send the wrong message. International students should not be viewed as suspicious and threatening and subjected to differential treatment in the application process as a matter of routine. There should be a single set of admission standards, devoid of any hint of discrimination, applied consistently to all student applicants.

Our institutions of higher education should serve as societal models of tolerance and diversity in order to prepare our students to live and function in a diverse world. We should be competing in the global market for the most desirable international students and encouraging them to attend our institutions. Background checks by colleges and universities would discourage international students from considering a U.S. institution of higher education.

If there were a reasonable basis to believe that universities and colleges are unwittingly providing safe harbors for international terrorists, then the federal government has the resources, expertise, and trained personnel to do what is necessary to protect national security. Congress has already passed legislation expanding federal authority to track suspected terrorists.

Colleges and universities should do what they do best-perform their educational mission in a learning environment for students and scholars that is diverse and free from discrimination. And the federal government should protect our national security.

* Elaine Daniels is a faculty member in the department of finance and law at Central Michigan University. She has taught business law for more than 30 years, and has served in various leadership positions, including president of the Faculty Association and chair of the Academic Senate.