Arianna Mbunwe said she was fed up when her school appeared to remain silent last year during protests that followed the death of African American George Floyd in police custody in Minnesota.

Mbunwe, a junior at the University of Georgia (UGA), ignited a debate over so-called "cancel culture" when she opened a Twitter account called "ariexposesuga" to call attention to what she perceived as racially offensive incidents on campus.

In September 2020, she posted screenshots of messages from a group chat among University of Georgia Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity members. One fraternity brother posted: "Lord give me the strength to not call that woman [Mbunwe] a racial slur."

The fraternity chapter self-suspended indefinitely in response.

"I just wanted people to realize what they were doing was wrong and change their behavior for the better," Mbunwe said through email. "Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't, but that's their own free will."

Not all of Mbunwe's classmates saw it that way. Some accused Mbunwe of perpetuating cancel culture, a pattern of ostracizing, boycotting and publicly shaming people or organizations over perceived offenses.

"It created, especially at UGA, an anti-cancel culture," said sophomore Patrick Mosley, political affairs director of his school's chapter of College Democrats. "Especially if you're outside of that more liberal sector of UGA."

Meredith Clark, assistant professor in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Virginia-Charlottesville, defends cancel culture as "an expression of agency, a choice to withdraw one's attention from someone or something whose values, (in)action, or speech are so offensive, one no longer wishes to grace them with their presence, time, and money," she wrote in the journal Communication and the Public in October 2020.

But canceling, which usually targets celebrities, politicians and companies, tends to drive a wedge between progressive liberals and social conservatives, according to Pippa Norris of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

"The public outing of heretics and dissenters is nothing new, as exemplified by the fanatical prosecution of religious nonconformists, the medieval punishment by stocks and pillory in the town square, or the notorious Salem witch trials," Norris wrote in August 2020.

In today's context, there is genuine concern if legitimate criticism has morphed into "a tidal wave eroding tolerance of … free speech, and enforcing a progressive or left-wing orthodoxy among professors, administrators, and student," she continued.

"But is there evidence, beyond some specific anecdotes, that this has actually occurred?"

Poll: Threat to freedom

A majority of Americans — both liberal and conservative — think so: A new Harvard CAPS-Harris poll shared exclusively with The Hill newspaper found 64% of Americans perceive cancel culture as a threat to freedom. Many students complain on social media that cancel culture has gone too far, dividing people on lines of race, gender, political views, age and class.

Mimi Groves, an incoming freshman at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, was pressured to withdraw after a Snapchat video circulated of her when she was 15, using a word considered a racial slur. The video was three seconds long and three years old.

The controversy didn't erupt until May 2020 when Groves urged people in a tweet to "protest, donate, sign a petition, rally, do something" in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, as reported by The New York Times. A former classmate objected to her tweet, citing the three-year-old slur, and recirculated the video.

Groves was swiftly removed from her university's cheer team and soon withdrew from the school after receiving pressure from admissions officials, she told The New York Times. VOA's attempts to reach her were unsuccessful.

Professors also get canceled, critics say.

Georgetown Law School fired adjunct professor Sandra Sellers in March over a widely viewed video that showed her making what were considered racially insensitive comments about her Black students.

And at Duke University in North Carolina, biostatistics professor Megan Neely was forced to resign in January 2019 after an outcry ensued over an email she sent, asking Chinese international students to speak English in department buildings.

'No room for discussion'

Some students say their political beliefs will get them canceled for being in the minority on college campuses, which have largely leaned liberal and Democrat.

"It's not an explicit cancel culture, like Twitter going after a person, but a social cancel culture where if you're a conservative, we're not going to support you or hear out your ideas," said Andrew Waldman, a Pennsylvania State University freshman involved with his campus's College Republicans.

"You'll see people isolate conservatives and refuse to work with conservatives because they are conservative and no other reason," he said. "That's one of the issues with cancel culture, in my opinion: It's canceling their ability to help students."

Dan Mills, a freshman at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and communications director of College Republicans, said he is also discouraged by cancel culture on his campus.

"I'll be in a class and I'll have an idea that I want to say, but I'll think it's something that I can't say in a Zoom of 150 people," Mills said. "So, it can be frustrating because you hear the same ideas over and over again in the class, and there's really no room for discussion of it. Sometimes even if I really want to say something, I will, but I'll really have to skirt around what I want to say and leave people to figure it out."

Waldman said his philosophy is that "if you don't like what someone is saying, then you should engage in a discussion with them. To prevent that conversation from happening in the first place is how you get an ignorant and uninformed population, and I think that's one of the things that causes the political polarization that happens in our society today because we're not allowed to have those discussions."

Florida bill

In response to fears of "cancel culture" in higher education, the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill in late March that would require institutions to survey "viewpoint diversity" on their campuses and prohibit universities from banning controversial speakers. Opponents, including university faculty leaders, fear a "chilling effect" on campus speech.

While most Americans see "cancel culture" as a problem, according to the Harvard poll, there is disagreement about how to curtail it.

"In most instances of cancel culture that we see, these people are good people and they make a mistake," said Waldman. "The questions should be, 'How can we help these people and teach them that saying things like this isn't OK anymore?' and, 'How can we expand the conversation without closing it down?"

Others see exposing wrongdoing through social media as a means to bring about social justice. While Mbunwe says she does not see her posts as "canceling" anyone, she says that she uses her platform to bring awareness to social justice and health and safety issues that impact her community.

"The people who complain about cancel culture are those who are scared of accountability and are scared they are going to have some of their past mistakes brought to light," Mbunwe said. "Instead of welcoming accountability, a lot of people are scared of it, and I think that needs to change."

It’s tough to gain admission to Yale University, and it’s getting even tougher for international students as standout students from around the world set their sights on Yale.

The Yale Dale News, the campus newspaper, takes a look at the situation here.

Read the full story here.

Ruth Chane, a computer science major from Ethiopia, writes about her experiences settling into student life at Whitman College in the U.S. state of Washington.

"The community at Whitman College made sure I felt welcomed even before I stepped foot on campus," she says.

Read her essay here.

In The Student Life, the student newspaper for the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five liberal art colleges and two graduate schools in Claremont, California, student Rochelle Lu writes about readjusting to her Shanghai home after spending a semester in the United States.

Read the full story here.

Cedarville University in the U.S. state of Ohio says it’s got more than 140 international students representing 44 countries.

Here, the school interviews Jonathan Sutton, director of international student services. He talks about his job and the opportunities for international students on campus.

Read the full article here.

Morehouse College, a private, historically Black liberal arts college in the U.S. state of Georgia, offers a guide for international students interested in attending the school.

Among the tips to apply and thrive at Morehouse:

• Take advantage of the school’s orientation program
• Turn to the school’s Center for Academic Success for tutoring, support and more
• Immerse yourself in campus life via clubs and societies

Read the full article here.

The administration of President Donald Trump said on Monday it will review Columbia University's federal contracts and grants over allegations of antisemitism, which it says the educational institution has shown inaction in tackling.

Rights advocates note rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias since U.S. ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Hamas militants' deadly October 2023 attack.

The Justice Department said a month ago it formed a task force to fight antisemitism. The U.S. Departments of Health and Education and the General Services Administration jointly made the review announcement on Monday.

"The Federal Government's Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is considering Stop Work Orders for $51.4 million in contracts between Columbia University and the Federal Government," the joint statement said.

The agencies said no contracting actions had been taken yet.

"The task force will also conduct a comprehensive review of the more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia University."

The agencies did not respond to requests for comment on whether there were similar reviews over allegations of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias.

Columbia had no immediate comment. It previously said it made efforts to tackle antisemitism.

College protests

Trump has signed an executive order to combat antisemitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests.

Columbia was at the center of college protests in which demonstrators demanded an end to U.S. support for Israel due to the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's assault on Gaza. There were allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia in protests and counter-protests.

During last summer's demonstrations around the country, classes were canceled, some university administrators resigned and student protesters were suspended and arrested.

While the intensity of protests has decreased in recent months, there were some demonstrations last week in New York after the expulsion of two students at Columbia University-affiliated Barnard College and after New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the removal of a Palestinian studies job listing at Hunter College.

A third student at Barnard College has since been expelled, this one related to the occupation of the Hamilton Hall building at Columbia last year.

The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.

It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.

In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.

Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.

Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.

"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.

An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."

House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."

Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.

Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.

The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.

"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."

The Times of India breaks down the most popular subjects for international students to study in the U.S.

STEM and business lead the pack. Read the full story here. (January 2025)

U.S. News & World report addresses some of the misconceptions about U.S. colleges and universities, including the difficulty of getting a visa.

Read the full story here. (January 2025)

US News & World Report details the three top factors in foreign students' decision to study in the U.S. They include research opportunities and the reputation of U.S. degrees. Read the full story here. (December 2024)

A British student who did a year abroad at Bowling Green State University in Ohio talks about adjusting to life in America in a TikTok video, Newsweek magazine reports.

Among the biggest surprises? Portion sizes, jaywalking laws and dorm room beds.

Read the full story here. (December 2024)

Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health reaches out to international students by detailing the international student experience at the school.

Learn more about housing, life in Boston and more here.

China issued its first national action plan to build a "strong education nation" by 2035, which it said would help coordinate its education development, improve efficiencies in innovation and build a "strong country."

The plan, issued Sunday by the Communist Party's central committee and the State Council, aims to establish a "high quality education system" with accessibility and quality "among the best in the world."

The announcement was made after data on Friday showed China's population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024, with the number of deaths outpacing a slight increase in births, and experts cautioning that the downturn will worsen in the coming years.

High childcare and education costs have been a key factor for many young Chinese opting out of having children, at a time when many face uncertainty over their job prospects amid sluggish economic growth.

"By 2035, an education power will be built," the official Xinhua news agency said, adding that China would explore gradually expanding the scope of free education, increase "high-quality" undergraduate enrolment, expand postgraduate education, and raise the proportion of doctoral students.

The plan aims to promote "healthy growth and all-round development of students," making sure primary and secondary school students have at least two hours of physical activity daily, to effectively control the myopia, or nearsightedness, and obesity rates.

"Popularizing" mental health education and establishing a national student mental health monitoring and early warning system would also be implemented, it said.

It also aims to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas to improve the operating conditions of small-scale rural schools and improve the care system for children with disabilities and those belonging to agricultural migrant populations.

The plan also aims to steadily increase the supply of kindergarten places and the accessibility of preschool education.

The Open Notebook, a site focusing on educating journalists who cover science, has complied a list of U.S. graduate program financial aid information for international students.

Read it here.