3 weeks ago
Last Updated:March 27, 2025, 18:09 IST
Ranjani Srinivasan expressed uncertainty about whether she would feel safe returning to the US to complete her PhD, even if her visa is reinstated
The 37-year-old doctoral student in Urban Planning at Columbia University in New York was forced to leave the US and seek refuge in Canada.
Indian student Ranjani Srinivasan, who fled the United States after her visa was revoked for allegedly supporting Hamas, has said she feels that her university, Columbia University, has “let her down." The PhD student also hopes her enrolment at the university will be restored.
The 37-year-old doctoral student in Urban Planning at Columbia University in New York was forced to leave the US and seek refuge in Canada after receiving an email from the US Consulate in Chennai informing her that her student visa had been cancelled.
She reportedly fled to Canada on the same day US immigration officers came searching for her after the visa revocation. In a desperate bid for safety, she booked a last-minute flight to Canada. Her visa was revoked on March 5, and she left for Canada on March 11.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Srinivasan, who arrived in the US on an F-1 student visa to pursue her studies, expressed her sense of betrayal by the university. “I spent five years at Columbia, working – I don’t know – maybe 100 hours a week sometimes… I never expected the institution to let me down. But it did," she said.
The Indian student further expressed uncertainty about whether she would feel safe returning to the US to complete her PhD, even if her visa is reinstated.
“I hope Columbia comes to its senses and re-enrols me," Srinivasan noted. “All the requirements for my PhD are complete, and whatever is left, I don’t even need to be in the US for. So I’m trying to appeal to Columbia to do that."
Location :Canada
First Published:March 27, 2025, 18:09 IST
News world 'Columbia Let Me Down,' Says Indian Student Who Fled US Hopes University Will 'Re-enrol' Her
