INITIAL ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from The Huntington News (Northeastern student paper) coverage of April 7, 2025, which quoted extensively from the OGS email; substance and key phrases ('approximately 40,' 'daily SEVIS record checks,' 'without prior notice') confirmed across The Huntington News, Global Observer, and the OGS website1639 chars
Dear International Students and Scholars,
The Office of Global Services (OGS) is writing to inform you of a developing situation impacting international students and scholars across the United States. Beginning the week of March 28, 2025, OGS and other institutions across the U.S. began noticing a concerning pattern: active F-1 student and recent graduate SEVIS records were being terminated by the Department of Homeland Security without prior notice to either the student or the institution. To date, approximately 40 Northeastern community members — current students and recent graduates on post-completion OPT or STEM OPT — have been affected.
OGS has been conducting daily SEVIS record checks to identify any newly terminated records, and we are contacting each affected individual directly to provide guidance about immigration status, employment authorization, and legal resources. If your SEVIS record has been terminated, you may no longer be authorized to remain in the United States, and you should not continue working under OPT authorization without consulting an immigration attorney.
If you have not been contacted by OGS, your SEVIS record has not been terminated as of our most recent check. We will continue daily monitoring and will notify you immediately if your record is affected.
We strongly recommend that all international students avoid international travel at this time unless absolutely necessary. If you must travel, contact your OGS advisor before making plans.
Northeastern remains committed to supporting our international community, and we will continue to provide updates as the situation develops.
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
The phrase 'OGS has been conducting daily SEVIS record checks' is the practice-defining detail of this email: Northeastern, like most peer institutions, learned of terminations not through DHS notification but through proactive database polling — an inversion of the normal SEVIS information flow that began the moment institutions realized DHS was not notifying them of terminations
The specific count 'approximately 40' was published in the email itself, an unusual transparency choice — most peer institutions (USC, ASU, Cornell, Penn) cited only 'a small number' to protect student privacy, but Northeastern's larger affected population made the count newsworthy regardless
The instruction that affected students should not continue working under OPT authorization without consulting an immigration attorney reflects the legal posture: a terminated SEVIS record automatically terminates work authorization for students on Optional Practical Training, creating immediate employment law exposure
Reconstructed wording — Northeastern OGS did not publish the email text publicly, but the substance is confirmed across the student newspaper, the Global Observer, and the OGS public website