Former international students make new plans

By Pat Howard
Cardinal Staff

After the fall semester of the 2008-09 academic year, more than 20 Saint Mary’s University international students withdrew from the university.

At the beginning of the spring semester of the 2007-08 academic year, SMU played host to a group of roughly 20 students from Nepal.

“This cluster was one of the largest the university has ever accepted at one time,” said Tony Piscitiello, vice president for admissions.

The Admissions Office was pleased to find so many international students who were interested in attending SMU, Piscitiello said. However, the trend for larger groups of students has typically been to make collaborative decisions rather than individual ones. After the conclusion of this first semester, one of those decisions was to pursue new opportunities.

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There are many possible reasons to explain why some of the former international students have left. The state of the economy may very well have played a factor. Scott Song Zhe, Saint Mary’s Student Senate vice president for International Affairs, said, “other indications included the want to live off campus, the pursuit of other scholarships and the want to stay together as a group.”

Students and faculty alike agree that accepting international students has many benefits. Together, domestic undergrads can learn about other cultures just as international students are able to participate first-hand in an American college experience.

Despite the Nepalese group decision to depart, SMU is still the home of students from all over the world.

“It is a vital attribute of the university,” said Piscitiello. “We are committed to having international students.”