Ithaca College

Ithaca College signed onto an amicus brief in support of optional practical training (OPT) in May 2021. This amicus brief is an updated version of a 2019 amicus brief in which the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers threatens OPT for international students.

The OPT brief argues that hundreds of thousands of international students and graduates participate in optional practical training across the nation and that optional practical training provides experiential learning that is a crucial component of education in this country. It also argues that higher education benefits tremendously from optional practical training, as does the U.S. economy, and that a rollback of optional practical training will harm international students as well as American higher education.

The brief outlines the importance of OPT to colleges and universities, their students, and higher education in this country. It highlights the value of OPT as an important educational component to a student’s program of study, as a key complement to the classroom experience, and as supplemental training and experiential learning. 

Additionally, Ithaca College signed onto a letter in support of the Dream Act that will be sent to Senate Leaders Charles Schumer and Mitch McConnell if Federal District Judge Andrew Hanen issues a negative decision that rules against the legality of deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA.) This case threatens the existence of DACA, and an adverse court decision will disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands of young Dreamers, and gravely impact their employers, families and communities. 

“This is a historic and extraordinary time in our country, and institutions of higher education must step forward to protect our international students and support them as scholars and as people,” said President Shirley M. Collado. “Ithaca College, in particular, has a deep commitment to serving the public good. That commitment encompasses our responsibility to sustain thriving communities that not only enrich the lives of all people within them, but also strengthen our society and drive the ongoing evolution of an equitable, just nation.” 

This “friend of the court” brief was coordinated by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, of which IC President Shirley M. Collado is a founding member. This group of higher education leaders is dedicated to improving how colleges and universities address immigration-related matters affecting their campuses.