With looming impacts to higher education institutions from Executive Orders signed by President Donald Trump, Emporia State announced in an email sent at the end of last month that the University’s executive leadership team “is closely assessing the federal executive orders to determine the impacts they may have to our campus.”

The email, sent out on Jan. 30, informed students that their federal student loan and Pell Grant disbursements would not be rescinded. It also informed students that their rights as they are outlined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) remain intact. 

FERPA is a federal law that affords certain rights to parents in regard to the education records of their children. At age 18, those rights transfer over from the parent to the student and the student becomes an “eligible student.” 

At ESU, “educational records” refer to any records “maintained by Emporia State that contain information directly related to a student.”

What rights do students have under FERPA? 

Generally speaking, FERPA gives eligible students the right to inspect their student records and protects students’ personally identifiable information from disclosure without prior consent, except for in certain circumstances. Per ESU’s FERPA statement, students have the right to inspect their educational records, request an amendment to their records that they believe to be incorrect or misleading and, in certain situations, restrict the disclosure of their records.

Under the act, personally identifiable information is considered to be any information that is “linked or linkable to a specific student” that would allow them to be identified by another person “with reasonable certainty,” such as the student’s name, address, date of birth, social security number, student ID number, etc. However, prior consent is not required for the disclosure of what an institution considers “directory information.”

It is ESU’s policy that “directory information” is public information and available upon inquiry, but students have the option to restrict information considered “directory information” from being disclosed. ESU considers the following to be “directory information”: 

Name, Address, Phone number, Email address, Major field(s) of study, Student classification, 

Enrollment status, Dates of attendance, Past and present participation in officially recognized activities and sports, Degree(s) conferred and date(s) conferred, Certain awards, honors and scholarships, Photograph, Most recent educational agency or institution attended

When can personally identifiable information on educational records be disclosed without prior consent? 

At the University’s discretion, certain education records of students can be released to comply with judicial orders or a subpoena. Likewise, they can also be released to law enforcement authorities for the purpose of legal compliance. 

As stated in ESU’s FERPA statement, the University may also release these records to: 

• School officials with a legitimate education interest

• Another academic institution where a student is or seeks to be enrolled

• Certain education authorities 

• Financial aid personnel

• Parents or legal guardians of dependent students based on the definition used by the Internal Revenue Service

• Appropriate individuals when necessary to protect the health or safety of students or others

• Organizations conducting studies to improve instruction or to accrediting organizations

• Contractors, consultants or volunteers authorized to act for the University in specific situations

University Immigration Enforcement

ESU’s email did not address concerns or policies on campus immigration enforcement. On Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order rescinding guidelines put in place by the Biden Administration that designated schools, places of worship, social service establishments and health care facilities as “sensitive areas” and restricted immigration enforcement within them. 

In an email to The Bulletin, Gwen Larson, Director of Media Relations and Internal Communications, said that law enforcement may enter campus buildings and request documents. 

“As always, under any circumstance if this occurs, the university expects all individuals to comply and not interfere with law enforcement activities,” Larson said. “Should this happen, at their earliest convenience, individuals should also inform ESU Police and Safety (620) 341-5337 and the Office of General Counsel (620) 341-5551.”

According to the University’s new FAQ page on the orders, the University is not aware of any student and faculty at ESU on a visa “being affected by current federal review or agency action.” 

Per reporting by KSNT, the Emporia Police Department says they have not been contacted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for assistance. However, they say they have “always cooperated with other law enforcement agencies whether it was local, county, state or federal.”

While executive orders can overturn previous executive orders, they cannot “change or eliminate federal statutory law or constitutional law.” To stay up to date with University communications in regard to the recent executive orders enacted by the president, students, faculty and staff can visit the secure FAQ page at https://emporia.link/execordersfaq.