YSU professor serves as advocate for international students

[EDITOR'S NOTE — Difference Makers articles share stories of the local heroes making a difference during the extraordinary times of the COVID-19 pandemic. This section is made possible by Eastwood Mall and named in honor of Mark Eckert, who made a difference in the Mahoning Valley.]

YOUNGSTOWN — For Alicia Prieto Langarica, associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Youngstown State University, forming a relationship with students plays a key role in her profession.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she's been an outspoken advocate for students still living in university housing since YSU's campus shut down in March, especially international students.

"I was an international student, so I know how it can be hard and I know what things are difficult. It's not getting any easier," she said. "I love all of my students and I want to help all of my students but they do have different challenges. I kind of happen to have lived the same challenges as my international students."

Prieto Langarica, a native of Mexico, moved to the United States to finish her undergraduate degree first, at the University of Texas at Dallas and, then, at the University of Texas at Arlington to complete her Ph. D.

Prieto Langarica has been teaching at YSU for eight years.

Getting students access to necessities, like food and personal hygiene products, was a top priority for Prieto Langarica. She's been working in collaborating with YSU's food pantry to meet the needs of students who can't return home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

YSU's food pantry is a resource for any student facing food issues but has proven to be especially useful during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's not only international students that are taking advantage of the food pantry. We have a lot of students that are homeless or that are finding it really hard to get food. So this helps national students as well," she said.

According to Prieto Langarica, there are roughly 15 students living on YSU's campus who are unable to go home due to COVID-19 related challenges, including flights and finances.

These students have a hard time getting food because YSU's dining services are closed and many international students don't have a U.S. driver's license.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Prieto Langarica said the community response made her proud to be at YSU and live in the Mahoning Valley.

"The community just, like, got together and started flooding the pantry with food and it's been really cool to see that I'm in such a nice place. I have a lot of pride for the Valley, she added. "I'm so proud of living in a place where you can just say in a Facebook post, 'Hey, there are international students who don't have any food,' then I was overwhelmed with the response."

As some universities move to exclusively online learning for the Fall 2020 semester, another obstacle facing U.S. international students is recent modifications to ICE's student and exchange visitor program policy:

"Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States. The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States," according to www.ice.gov.

Additionally, Prieto Langarica said international students usually have the opportunity to partake in Under Optional Practical Training (OPT) and extend their visa to work for one year in the U.S. after graduation. Now, their concerns are that if your last year in the U.S. is through online learning, whether that program will still be honored.

"Their main concern was, like, when can they go home. If YSU went fully online, some of them would like to go home and they might not be able to," she said. "The minute the ICE policy came out. I got flooded with students being really worried, like, 'Are we going to get deported?' It's a big worry."

Although YSU hasn't announced plans to have exclusively online learning for Fall 2020, Prieto Langarica said the university has discussed adopting a "hybrid model" for classrooms, meaning some class time in person and some online.

This hybrid model would keep international students from facing deportation.

Prieto Langarica was named an honoree for the Women Warriors initiative through the Guiding Circle of the Community Foundation's Fund for Women and Girls last month for her work with international students and the YSU food pantry.

"Anything that we can do to mitigate these disparities is really, really good," she said.

This story was originally published July 14, 2020 at 5:11 AM with the headline "YSU professor serves as advocate for international students."