UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley issued a statement yesterday demonstrating the school’s cooperation with the U.S. Attorney’s office’s probe into the backgrounds of some temporary legal immigrants, but said the UW Police Department will not participate in the investigations.
“The University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department has declined to participate in arranging and conducting interviews for the U.S. Attorney’s office with a number of Dane County residents including UW-Madison international students,” Wiley said in the statements.
The statement comes only a day after it was reported that two UW students were questioned in recent weeks.
The nationwide investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice of 5,000 men who fit the profile of the Sept. 11 terrorists includes 100 from Wisconsin.
The profile the FBI is investigating includes young men aged 18 to 33 who entered the country since Jan. 1, 2000, from countries that have been linked to the terrorists or their organizations.
According to Grant Johnson, interim attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, students are not being singled out because they are students.
“These are all people that are similarly situated,” Johnson said. “There are a lot of students in that age group.”
In fact, Johnson said, the probe these students reported did not come through his office, despite yesterday’s reports.
“They may have been interviewed by federal officials,” he said. “But it was not part of the program that I am directing. That assumption is incorrect.”
Wiley’s statement confirms that any investigation into the background of international students is not coming through the school.
“The university always cooperates fully with local, state and federal law enforcement investigations of suspected criminal activity. We will continue to do so in the future,” Wiley said. “But university officials, including me, believe the criteria to select individuals for interviews — outlined late Wednesday, Dec. 5, by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Wisconsin — is broadly based and appears to consist of people who are not suspected of any crimes or suspicious activity.”
UWPD Captain Dale Burke said the police department rejected a “voluntary” offer by the U.S. Attorney’s office to help with the probes.
“We were among many agencies that were asked if they wanted to volunteer,” Burke said. “We said we didn’t.”
Burke said there was no indication students were being singled out.”
“We’ve never seen the names, and we won’t see the names,” he said. “There’s nothing to indicate on the names anyways whether someone is a student or is not a student.”
Wiley’s statement is in line with the administration’s early stance that they will not divulge any student’s personal information without a court order.
According to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, it is illegal for schools to give out details other than basic directory information to anyone, including students’ parents, without a court order.
Right now, unless a court order is issued, the only information available upon written request is names, addresses, phone numbers, major selected, credits being taken and whether the person is registered as a student or not.
“Wisconsin pretty much leads in terms of protecting student privacy,” Dean of Students Alicia Chavez said.
The school met last month to put together a plan addressing what to do if the school is approached, but UW has not yet been approached. Right now, any inquiries are channeled through UW Legal Services.
“As always, our legal services office will provide whatever records or supplementary information is requested by law enforcement officials, consistent with state and federal laws,” Wiley said. “The university police department will not participate at this time in the interviews or in locating the individuals sought for interviews.”
