But what was supposed to be a simplification of the previous paper system turned out to be a logistical nightmare for universities nationwide.

The SEVIS system was released late and ridden with technical flaws. Complaints and pleas from colleges and universities deluged Washington. A January 2002 deadline for approval to use the system was extended to February.

Through the first stages of this very public imbroglio, Harvard remained silent.

Ladd and Casey were working to conform diligently with government requirements.

While many other universities struggled to meet the extended SEVIS deadline, Harvard had been approved to begin entering information in the database before the original deadline fell.

Harvard’s strategy, Casey explained, was to gain credibility in Washington—and to avoid blame for any crises that might arise among hastily developed national-security programs—by complying with the letter of the new laws.

Even so, pressure at the HIO has been mounting in recent weeks. Ladd says her staff is now “working nights and weekends” to get all of Harvard’s data onto SEVIS in time. The HIO plans to close during certain days over the summer so that its staff can devote all of its attention to the SEVIS challenge, she adds.

Harvard’s publicly silent, nose-to-the-grindstone approach to issues facing international students was not the only path open to a university of its stature.

Some of Harvard’s peers quickly complained publically about the possible deleterious effects of national security regulations pertaining to foreign students.

MIT President Charles M. Vest, for instance, took these issues as the topic of his annual report last year, putting the full force of a Cambridge university behind these issues.

Hammerheads and Figureheads

Vest—a tall and lanky West Virginian with an understated, self-deprecating wit—has been among the most informed experts on the implications of post-Sept. 11 legislation for academic freedom.

Speaking at a conference on national security and the academy held at MIT last month, Vest outlined for a group of scholars the constellation of post-Sept. 11 legislation, a virtual alphabet soup of acts and procedures.

After discussing the history and implications of SEVIS, Vest spoke about the Technology Alert List—a combination of old and new procedures used to process the visa applications of researchers undertaking work that could potentially endanger national security. The list has grown rapidly since Sept. 11.

Vest also discussed the Interagency Panel on Advanced Science and Security (IPASS), a work in progress designed to make it easier for foreign scholars to pursue valuable research work in the U.S. under national security regulations.