At Brown, international students account for almost 40% of the graduate community, and, while the specific needs of such a large and diverse community remain under-addressed, the last few years have marked a positive shift towards an institutional recognition of our contribution. As Chair of International Advocacy on the Graduate Student Council (GSC), I have a privileged access to the administration that I use to advocate for international graduate students.

The main part of my job is to join weekly meetings and boards with deans and administrators of the Graduate School, either to discuss directly international grads’ issues, or to make sure that international students have an active voice in larger conversations about the community. This year I also wanted to reshape International Graduate Student Orientation, with the goal of making it more inclusive of international grads’ very diverse personal journeys, and, overall, more fun. In the Fall, my committee and I drafted a proposal, including a tentative schedule, a booklet outline, and a list of priorities, that I then presented to the Grad School. Some of these will be test-run at this year’s orientation, and I am hopeful that they will lead to significant changes and an overall greater investment of the institution into the wellbeing of international grads.

I cannot address international students’ advocacy without acknowledging that the biggest shift in the atmosphere for our community has been the current federal government’s policies of systematically and cruelly targeting some of us on the basis of nationality, skin color, and religion. In my two years volunteering for, and then chairing, the GSC’s international committee, I have seen the anxiety, havoc, and real harm these policies have caused—and are causing—to individuals and families. I have also seen quick and vocal reactions from Brown and I am glad to be part of an institution that has come forward in support of the communities and the individuals threatened, and that has pledged to lobby against these discriminatory policies. As an international student myself, I am both appalled and worried by the current federal administration’s stance and rhetoric on immigrants. Targeting some of us is an attack on the whole community. While my role as a volunteer advocate is pretty small in scope, I hope we can at least foster a better sense of community and belonging among us, and improve our support systems.