What appeared on the CNN website today was an extreme case, but it also begs the question: are universities doing enough to serve international students? A University of Massachusetts student, Nikhil Dhar, 24, feared he would be deported back to India because he was struggling and failing out of school. This situation swelled to Dhar stabbing a science professor in the neck because she gave him a failing grade.
Police said they found a note in Dhar's pocket, which read: "I'm sorry I'm having to do this. But I have no options left... I have nothing to lose."
I am certainly not suggesting that what Dhar did was justified, but it does make me wonder (and I hope the university wonder) what brought him to such desperation.
I mean, international students often pay double the tuition than their non-international counterparts. That's a lot of pressure. Moreover, most international students are studying in a language that is not their mother-tongue. Furthermore, many international students come from a school system that operates differently than ours in the western world. Many come here with a dream for a better future than their native country offers and perhaps a dream to alleviate their family's struggles. That's certainly more pressure that I have had to face in my post-secondary experience.
I also wonder if the professor did everything she could to help this student and/or tell him where he could improve. I wonder what services the university offered for international students. Furthermore, I think universities need to give higher priority to international students as they are a huge contributor to the fiscal sustainability of their institution.
I got the story from this site: http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/04/09/professor.stabbed.ap/index.html although I think CNN could have done a better job at representing the whole story.
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