Florida Faculty Seek Clarity on Hiring Students From ‘Countries of Concern’

Over 300 faculty members at the University of Florida have signed a petition to the university’s leadership urgently seeking clarification on restrictions imposed by a law that the Florida legislature passed unanimously in May.

Language in the law generally prohibits state colleges and universities from entering any “agreement” or “partnership” with “any foreign principal” from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria, all designated as “countries of concern.” University researchers recently received guidance that, due to the law, they should hold back on hiring graduate student assistants from these countries.

The petition observes that more than 1,000 graduate students from those countries enroll in the university every year and asserts that failing to offer paid assistantships will immediately hinder the university in competing for talented students. It also expresses the broader hope that state-level “foreign-influence policy” will not affect the hiring of international students, postdocs, and visiting researchers, regardless of their country of origin.

The law was part of a trio Florida enacted aimed at confronting the Chinese Communist Party. Florida has taken a leading role among Republican-led states in advancing the party’s political aims, which also include dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.