Bonaventure Responds to Student Visa Revocation

The Administration Building at St. Bonaventure Univerisity

Photo courtesy of The Bona Venture

BY DAVID SCIBILIA, MANAGING EDITOR

On Tuesday morning, a St. Bonaventure University international student had their academic visa revoked. The federal government did not formally notify the university of the revocation or give a reason as to why the F-1 visa was revoked. 

“The student received an email from their local embassy — the embassy where they got their visa — that their visa got revoked,” Jonathan Mascaut, the associate director of International Student Services and Study Abroad, said. “The government has not communicated anything to the student or to us yet.”

In response, the university held two meetings for international students — one last night and one this morning.

“The point of the meetings was really to make sure everybody was aware of what’s going on,” Mascaut said. “There was a lot of education to do. Our concern was making sure that we reach everybody, and I think we did a pretty good job between the two meetings.”

But it can be hard to give general guidance to students when the university doesn’t know why the visa was revoked, David Hilmey, the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, said.

“We’re not seeing any trends, so we’re having to prepare for every possibility,” Hilmey said. “That was one of the difficult things when we were meeting with the students. Each of them has a very specific situation — a different reason why they’re here, a different country, a different background, a different status — and so all of those things have to be addressed, and it’s hard to do that with a general policy.”

The university has suggested that international students do not engage in political speech. This guidance comes after reports of several students nationwide having their visas revoked for participating in pro-Palestinian protests or for social media posts.

“Students have the right to make the decisions that they want to make, but we live in a very difficult time right now, and it’s been made clear that the rights of our international students do not seem to be the same as the rights of citizens,” Hilmey said. “We would recommend that they do not engage in political [social media] posts or activity. It doesn’t mean that they can’t, but there are consequences that they have. We don’t want them to get into any situation that jeopardizes their status here.”

Several offices across the university, including the President’s Office, Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and Athletics, are involved in supporting affected students, according to Wednesday’s university-wide announcement.

Student Affairs is focused on understanding the university’s role in dealing with any potential law enforcement involvement. Academic Affairs is working to ensure that international students continue to receive the best education possible, and Athletics is involved because a large percentage of the international student population are athletes, said Hilmey.

“International [athletics] recruiting is not something we’re going to stop doing,” Hilmey said. “But we’re going forward, planning for the worst but hoping for the best. We want to make sure that we continue to do the things that bring these students in.”

As a Franciscan University, Bonaventure is put in a difficult moral dilemma, said Hilmey.

“The foundation of what we do here is understanding ethical and moral obligations in a messy and difficult world, which means it’s not always: ‘This is the right thing to do, and we’re going to do this no matter what,’ but it’s also not ‘Let’s capitulate and do what’s easiest, because that’s going to keep us from getting in trouble,” Hilmey said. “You have to manage that and understand that we’re going to have to work within the law, and if we’re required to do something, we’re going to have to. It doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s the thing we want to do.”

Hilmey indicated the university is also working with University Ministries to ensure decisions they make are made within the university’s Franciscan and Catholic mission of compassion, wisdom and integrity.

While the university navigates uncertainty around individual cases, it continues to focus on the long-term growth of its international student body. The university’s international student population has steadily grown from 47 in 2020 to 105 in 2024, according to the 2024-2025 university fact book. 

“We have not seen any specific trends related to [the decline of enrollment in international students due to revoked visas],” Mascaut said. “We’re still recruiting and enrolling students for the fall semester. We still are getting visas issued to new, incoming international students, so we’re hopefully keeping on trying to increase our international student population.”

But there may be a decline in international student enrollment nationwide, said Hilmey.

“If you look at past trends, we would expect there to be a national trend of a declining role in international students,” Hilmey said.

To combat this, the university is placing more of an emphasis on student support services.

“One of the things that we have prioritized is the idea of a more robust and more personal support structure for students,” Hilmey said. “I think that’s what has helped us become a place where students not only feel comfortable being here, but also want to stay here.”

International students provide important and different insights from national students, Mascaut said.

“International students bring a lot to different communities, especially in a community like where we are, where it’s a small campus, a small town,” Mascaut said. “Having students of different backgrounds really helps broaden everybody’s horizons, everybody’s minds, especially in the current times. I think it’s really important to show an appreciation for other people, for other cultures, for other ways of thinking. And I believe that that’s part of our education here at Bonaventure — we try to see the best in everybody.”