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LOUISIANA LEGISLATOR PROBES FOR CERTAIN FOREIGN PROFESSORS AT STATE UNIVERSITIES

BY: PIPER HUTCHINSON - JANUARY 13, 2024 5:00 AM



A member of the Louisiana House of Representatives has a report in hand from his
inquiry into the number of faculty members from six foreign countries he deems
national threats at the state’s public universities. 

A member of the Louisiana House of Representatives has a report in hand from his
inquiry into the number of faculty members from six foreign countries he deems
national threats at the state’s public universities. 

Rep. Charles Owen, R-Rosepine, received the report from the Louisiana Board of
Regents, which oversees higher education in the state, on professors from
countries that he identified as enemies or threats to the United States: Russia,
China, Iran, Pakistan, Venezuela and Lebanon. He detailed his findings in a post
on The Hayride, a conservative blog. 

“A recent inquiry into the university systems in the State of Louisiana revealed
things that concern me greatly,” Owen wrote. “We have citizens from other
countries — places some call enemies — who are on faculty at our universities.” 

“What I have found out, however, is that in some universities, faculty members
from places where no freedom exists and where freedom of speech and thought are
non-existent have been hired,” Owen continued. 

In an interview with the Illuminator, Owen said he will not file legislation on
the matter this year. 

“So, (I’m) just trying to figure out the best way ahead for the state, and we
are in the early stages of this review,” he said.

The Board of Regents provided a copy of Owen’s request for Information and its
response to the Illuminator. Read below 

Owen’s inquiry also looked into:

 * universities with departments that have a majority of tenured faculty members
   from the aforementioned countries who hold permanent U.S. resident or green
   cards holders;
 * whether foreign students make up a majority of the enrollment in any of these
   departments;
 * whether any universities allow green card holders take leadership positions;
 * what policies would result in non‐U.S. citizen tenured faculty members having
   and executing a voting majority over a college or department in the context
   of student enrollment and/or tenure decisions, and;
 * information on protecting intellectual property in the context of research
   agreements with government entities. 

“We as Louisianians need to have full oversight of what goes on in our
universities,” Owen said. 

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Only three departments at two universities were identified as having a majority
of tenured professors from the countries Owen highlighted: LSU’s Department of
Textiles Apparel Design and Merchandising, which has a total of four faculty
members; LSU’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, which has a total
of 15 faculty members; and Louisiana Tech’s electrical engineering department,
which did not note how many faculty members it had. 

None of these were identified as having a majority of students from foreign
countries. 

LSU noted that faculty do not have decision-making authority over undergraduate
enrollment. Its faculty are allowed to recruit their own graduate students, but
they do not have sole control over the admissions process. LSU also has policies
in place that prevent any faculty group from being the only influence on
promotion and tenure decisions. 

The Southern University System said its New Orleans campus aims to keep its
percentage of non-U.S. citizen tenured faculty below 33%, but its campuses in
Baton Rouge and Shreveport do not have processes in place regarding non-citizen
faculty participating in promotion or enrollment decisions. 

Most schools in the University of Louisiana System did not respond to Owen’s
questions regarding faculty influence. Grambling State and the University of
Louisiana Monroe both indicated they have no restrictions that would prohibit
non-citizen tenured faculty from being on review committees. 

Owen said he supported foreign nationals “coming here” but wanted to get a
better picture of what was happening at public universities. 

“It is firstly a national security concern,” he said. 

While Owen said he will not pursue legislation yet, conservatives in Louisiana
and other states have raised the issue before. 

In 2022, the Louisiana Legislature approved and Gov. John Bel Edwards signed the
Higher Education Foreign Security Act, a bill Sen. Barry Milligan, R-Shreveport,
sponsored to regulate gifts to higher education from foreign entities. 

In Florida, legislators banned faculty from recruiting students from China,
Iran, Venezuela, Russia, Cuba, Syria and North Korea.



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PIPER HUTCHINSON

Piper Hutchinson is a reporter for the Louisiana Illuminator. She has covered
the Legislature and state government extensively for the LSU Manship News
Service and The Reveille, where she was named editor in chief for summer 2022.

MORE FROM AUTHOR

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© Louisiana Illuminator, 2024

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The Louisiana Illuminator is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news
organization with a mission to cast light on how decisions in Baton Rouge are
made and how they affect the lives of everyday Louisianians. Our in-depth
investigations and news stories, news briefs and commentary help residents make
sense of how state policies help or hurt them and their neighbors statewide.

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Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide
proper attribution and link to our web site.

DEIJ Policy | Ethics Policy | Privacy Policy
© Louisiana Illuminator, 2024
1
X



LOUISIANA LEGISLATOR PROBES FOR CERTAIN FOREIGN PROFESSORS AT STATE UNIVERSITIES

by Piper Hutchinson, Louisiana Illuminator
January 13, 2024

<h1>Louisiana legislator probes for certain foreign professors at state
universities</h1> <p>by Piper Hutchinson, <a
href="https://lailluminator.com">Louisiana Illuminator</a> <br />January 13,
2024</p> <p>A member of the Louisiana House of Representatives has a report in
hand from his inquiry into the number of faculty members from six foreign
countries he deems national threats at the state’s public universities. </p>
<p>Rep. Charles Owen, R-Rosepine, received the report from the Louisiana Board
of Regents, which oversees higher education in the state, on professors from
countries that he identified as enemies or threats to the United States: Russia,
China, Iran, Pakistan, Venezuela and Lebanon. He detailed his findings in a <a
href="https://thehayride.com/2024/01/owen-asking-questions-and-safeguarding-our-state-and-nation/">post
on The Hayride, a conservative blog</a>. </p> <p>“A recent inquiry into the
university systems in the State of Louisiana revealed things that concern me
greatly,” Owen wrote. “We have citizens from other countries — places some call
enemies — who are on faculty at our universities.” </p> <p>“What I have found
out, however, is that in some universities, faculty members from places where no
freedom exists and where freedom of speech and thought are non-existent have
been hired,” Owen continued. </p> <p>In an interview with the Illuminator, Owen
said he will not file legislation on the matter this year. </p> <p>“So, (I’m)
just trying to figure out the best way ahead for the state, and we are in the
early stages of this review,” he said.</p> <p>The Board of Regents provided a
copy of Owen’s request for Information and its response to the Illuminator.
<i>Read below </i></p> <p>Owen’s inquiry also looked into:</p> universities with
departments that have a majority of tenured faculty members from the
aforementioned countries who hold permanent U.S. resident or green cards
holders; whether foreign students make up a majority of the enrollment in any of
these departments; whether any universities allow green card holders take
leadership positions; what policies would result in non‐U.S. citizen tenured
faculty members having and executing a voting majority over a college or
department in the context of student enrollment and/or tenure decisions, and;
information on protecting intellectual property in the context of research
agreements with government entities.  <p>“We as Louisianians need to have full
oversight of what goes on in our universities,” Owen said. </p> <a
href="/subscribe"> <div class="subscribeShortcodeContainer"> <div
class="subscribeTextContainer"> <i></i> <p>GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED
TO YOUR INBOX</p> </div> <div class="subscribeButtonContainer"> SUBSCRIBE </div>
</div> </a> <p>Only three departments at two universities were identified as
having a majority of tenured professors from the countries Owen highlighted:
LSU’s Department of Textiles Apparel Design and Merchandising, which has a total
of four faculty members; LSU’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
which has a total of 15 faculty members; and Louisiana Tech’s electrical
engineering department, which did not note how many faculty members it had. </p>
<p>None of these were identified as having a majority of students from foreign
countries. </p> <p>LSU noted that faculty do not have decision-making authority
over undergraduate enrollment. Its faculty are allowed to recruit their own
graduate students, but they do not have sole control over the admissions
process. LSU also has policies in place that prevent any faculty group from
being the only influence on promotion and tenure decisions. </p> <p>The Southern
University System said its New Orleans campus aims to keep its percentage of
non-U.S. citizen tenured faculty below 33%, but its campuses in Baton Rouge and
Shreveport do not have processes in place regarding non-citizen faculty
participating in promotion or enrollment decisions. </p> <p>Most schools in the
University of Louisiana System did not respond to Owen’s questions regarding
faculty influence. Grambling State and the University of Louisiana Monroe both
indicated they have no restrictions that would prohibit non-citizen tenured
faculty from being on review committees. </p> <p>Owen said he supported foreign
nationals “coming here” but wanted to get a better picture of what was happening
at public universities. </p> <p>“It is firstly a national security concern,” he
said. </p> <p>While Owen said he will not pursue legislation yet, conservatives
<a
href="https://www.lsureveille.com/news/lsu-president-asks-legislature-for-extra-cash-fields-odd-question-on-international-students/article_098cf2b0-9fe3-11ec-850f-d7a5f2924ef6.html">in
Louisiana</a> and other states have raised the issue before. </p> <p>In 2022,
the Louisiana Legislature approved and Gov. John Bel Edwards signed the Higher
Education Foreign Security Act, a bill Sen. Barry Milligan, R-Shreveport,
sponsored to regulate gifts to higher education from foreign entities. </p>
<p>In Florida, <a
href="https://www.alligator.org/article/2024/01/international-student-ban">legislators
banned faculty from recruiting students</a> from China, Iran, Venezuela, Russia,
Cuba, Syria and North Korea.</p> <p><iframe title="House Ed Request - Foreign
National Information - System Responses Dec 2023 (Hosted by DocumentCloud)"
src="https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/24359334-house-ed-request-foreign-national-information-system-responses-dec-2023/?embed=1&responsive=1&title=1"
width="700" height="905"></iframe></p> <a href="/donate"> <div
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independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: <a
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