S. Jack Hu, new UC Riverside chancellor, defends international students amid Trump crackdown
- Share via
- S. Jack Hu, a senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Georgia, takes the helm at UC Riverside in July.
- Hu, an immigrant from China, is speaking out in support of international students after a Trump administration move to revoke Chinese student visas.
- Under retiring Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox, UC Riverside grew dramatically in enrollment and footprint and joined the prestigious American Assn. of Universities.
As the Trump administration moves to revoke Chinese student visas and increase vetting of all foreign students, the incoming chancellor of UC Riverside — who grew up in China and came to America 40 years ago to study — is speaking out.
“It is imperative for the federal support of international students and research to remain consistent so the U.S. will continue to drive the world economy in the generations to come,” S. Jack Hu, who was named this week as the first Asian American chancellor of the Riverside campus, said Friday. “And it is my hope that Chinese students will continue to feel welcome to come to the U.S. and experience the same life-changing opportunity I experienced.”
The UC Board of Regents announced Hu’s appointment on Wednesday, shortly after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement and social media post that the U.S. would “aggressively” cancel visas for an unspecified number of Chinese students, who make up the largest slice of the 1.1 million foreigners enrolled at U.S. campuses. Rubio said that revocations would include those of individuals with “connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.”
The timing — and Hu’s own history as a Chinese international student — has amplified his voice amid growing tensions as the federal government tightens visa screenings for Chinese students, damaging longstanding academic ties with China. A State Department spokesperson said Thursday the actions reflect “how we keep America safe and secure and more prosperous.”
“I came to America more than 40 years ago as a student, having grown up in a remote village in China. My dream was that of many young Chinese people, to pursue my dreams in the American university system,” Hu said Friday. “Then, as now, the United States and its investment in education and research was a beacon.”
Trump’s revoking of Chinese students’ visas is the latest in a effort to quickly remake higher education in America, a controversial project that has roiled academia.
Hu formally begins his role July 15, replacing Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox, who is retiring after serving in the role since 2013. Hu is one of two Chinese Americans leading campuses in the University of California, the nation’s most prominent public higher education system. The other, UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry T. Yang, will leave his three-decade posting at the end of the year to return to teaching.
Hu’s appointment takes place at a crucial moment for higher education, which is under fierce critique by President Trump as he revokes billions in medical and scientific research funding, derides diversity efforts and accuses universities of promoting antisemitism.
Hu will oversee a sprawling 1,900-acre campus that, under Wilcox, grew dramatically in enrollment and footprint and joined the American Assn. of Universities, a prestigious group of the top 71 American and Canadian research campuses. During Wilcox’s time, UC Riverside increased in size by more than 5,000 students and 200 faculty, opened an $87-million business school building, and ushered in a new medical school that will graduate its ninth class next month.
UC regents have named University of Texas Chancellor James B. Milliken as the next president of the University of California.
“Dr. Hu has championed innovation and academic initiatives that have increased opportunities for students and faculty and have positively impacted their lives and the communities they serve,” UC President Michael V. Drake said in a statement. “UC Riverside has established itself as a global leader in providing world-class scholarship. Dr. Hu has the academic acumen and collaborative mindset to move the campus forward with integrity and purpose.”
Born in Hunan province, China, Hu was an undergraduate at Tianjin University before he moved to the U.S. to study at the University of Michigan, where he obtained masters and doctorate degrees in mechanical engineering before joining the faculty. His annual salary will be $824,000, a slight increase over Wilcox’s salary of $810,000.
Hu, 61, most recently oversaw instruction, research, public service, outreach and information technology spread across 19 colleges and schools at the University of Georgia. He began his Georgia post in 2019. During his tenure, the university’s graduation rate increased by 20%, and the campus retained its status as one of nine public universities with a six-year graduation rate of more than 90%, a common measure of higher education success.
In Michigan, Hu developed a specialty in researching the quality and productivity of manufacturing systems. He rose through faculty and administrative ranks for more than 20 years before being appointed vice president for research in 2015, a role in which he oversaw a $1.5-billion research portfolio.
Lawsuit accuses Trump’s reshaped National Science Foundation of imposing ideology and across-the-board cuts at a cost of scientific and economic advancement.
At Riverside, Hu will take the helm of a campus grappling with deep cuts to federal funding grants, including those from the National Institutes of Health, a UC-wide hiring freeze and a UC-wide Department of Justice investigation over allegations of antisemitic employment discrimination tied to pro-Palestinian protests. The Riverside campus has largely been spared from the targeted Trump administration investigations over admissions policies or antisemitism allegations that have hit UCs including those in Los Angeles and Berkeley.
In an interview, Hu acknowledged that “federal funding cuts are a tremendous challenge.”
“The key as a country is that we must invest in science, in talent, in innovation,” he said. “The UC system is a leader in the country in terms of being a research university system. We need to work with federal government, with agencies, to sustain the partnership that universities in the country have built with the federal government. Without such investment, I think the U.S will not be able to complete globally.”
The head of the Trump administration’s task force on combating antisemitism said it intends to take UC and other campuses to court over antisemitism allegations.
Hu said universities will “need to diversify the sources of funding: state support, federal funding for research, for students, industry support, foundation support, all of those are important.”
Regarding federal actions affecting foreign students, Hu said he still believed the U.S. remained a “draw for international talents.”
“Those of us who came to study or work ... we are contributing to education and economic development and to the country,” he said. “If you look at California — many of the newer technology companies and startups — it’s immigrants who contribute a lot to those new technologies and the economy of the country.”
He added that his priorities will include “student success, social mobility, research and scholarship, expanding healthcare access for the region, and supporting communities in the Inland Empire region.”
Hu will lead one of UC’s most diverse and unique campuses. UC Riverside traces its origins to agricultural research into citrus but has grown into a multifaceted research university with globally ranked programs in entomology — the study of insects — plant and animal sciences, air pollution and alternative fuels.
The university has more than 26,000 students and 4,700 faculty and staff. The campus, which draws more than 14,000 commuter students, was the top UC last year in accepting first-year and transfer students, and ranked first in the system for accepting low-income individuals and those who were the first in their families to attend college.
As it has grown in size and popularity, UC Riverside has also faced hurdles. While expanding its enrollment, adding new programs and building new centers, students have complained of crowded housing and dining areas, parking shortages and some offerings that are stretched thin, such as services for immigrant students. To address some of the shortages, the university is building a $156-million instructional facility as well as hundreds of new apartments.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
In Season 2 of “Crimes of the Times,” host Christopher Goffard revisits one of the longest and most bizarre murder trials in U.S. history.
On this week’s bonus, Madison McGhee and Jake Deptula share some of their more controversial takes on today’s true crime beat.
In this episode, Sammy Roth speaks with geography professor James McCarthy, who’s studied how authoritarianism and environmental destruction can be deeply intertwined.
