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Pakistani Exchange Student Among Dead in Texas Shooting
A Pakistani exchange student is among the 10 people killed Friday in a shooting at Santa Fe High School in the state of Texas.
Sabika Sheikh was to return home to Pakistan for Eid al-Fitr, a three-day holiday that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to the Pakistan Association of Greater Houston on Facebook. The eldest of three daughters, Sabika, 17, resided in Karachi, reported Geo TV in Pakistan.
She had been in the U.S. under the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program since Aug. 21, 2017. She would have returned home when her program ended next month.
"She came to the U.S. to learn, to experience, to share and to bring back to her country all the knowledge she acquired during her exchange," wrote friend and fellow exchange student George Lapadat in a tribute on Facebook.
"She was young, vibrant, happy and super excited to go back to her country. She was going to return in a few days. She has done an amazing job of being an amazing ambassador to her country here. She has volunteered in her community, she was involved in lots of activities and she created a lot of lifelong friendships," Lapadat said.
"But she died today in the horrific Santa Fe, Texas, shooting," wrote Lapadat, a Romanian exchange student in the Future Leaders Exchange Program through the U.S. State Department, who is living in Lakeville, Minnesota. "Her family and friends will never get to see her again. When she left for this trip, she was supposed to be gone for 10 months. ... but now she is gone forever. And if this is not enough to prove that something is wrong and something needs to change, I don't know what else would be."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed his condolences Saturday to the family and friends of Sabika.
"Sabika was in the United States on the State Department-sponsored Youth Exchange and Study program, helping to build ties between the United States and her native Pakistan," Pompeo said in a statement." Sabika's death and that of the other victims is heartbreaking and will be mourned deeply both here in the United States, and in Pakistan."
Her family was reportedly bereft in Pakistan.
"It is still so very hard to believe that [Sabika is dead]," her father told Geo News. Geo reported that the family could not reach Sabika by mobile phone after hearing about the shooting following iftar on Friday. The consul-general in Houston confirmed that the student had died.
"It is with greatest sadness in my heart that I need to inform you that one of our YES students, Sabika Sheikh of Pakistan, was killed in the school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas," wrote Megan Lysaght, program manager for the Kennedy Lugar YES program.
"Please know that the YES program is devastated by the loss and we will remember Sabika and her families in our thoughts and prayers," Lysaght said.
WATCH: Sabika Sheikh made this video to express her feelings about being accepted into the YES program.
There were approximately 7,015 students from Pakistan in the U.S. in secondary and higher education in 2016-2017, a 14 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Institute of International Education.
Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, a junior at the school, opened fire before 8 a.m. at Santa Fe High School, according to law enforcement. Ten people were killed, and 10 others were wounded. Pagourtzis has been charged with murder.
Cynthia Tisdale, a teacher, was among those killed, her family confirmed. Tisdale was married for nearly 40 years and had three children and eight grandchildren, her niece Leia Olinde said.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the suspect, who is being held without bond in the Galveston County jail on capital murder charges, originally intended to commit suicide following the shooting but told law enforcement officials after he was arrested that he didn't have the courage to go through with it.
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Trump administration opens antisemitism inquiries at 5 colleges, including Columbia and Berkeley
The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.
It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.
In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.
Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.
"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.
An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."
House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."
Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.
Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.
The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.
"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."
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STEM, business top subjects for international students
The Times of India breaks down the most popular subjects for international students to study in the U.S.
STEM and business lead the pack. Read the full story here. (January 2025)
- By VOA News
Safety and visa difficulties among misconceptions about US colleges
U.S. News & World report addresses some of the misconceptions about U.S. colleges and universities, including the difficulty of getting a visa.
Read the full story here. (January 2025)
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Work opportunities help draw international students to US schools
US News & World Report details the three top factors in foreign students' decision to study in the U.S. They include research opportunities and the reputation of U.S. degrees. Read the full story here. (December 2024)
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British student talks about her culture shock in Ohio
A British student who did a year abroad at Bowling Green State University in Ohio talks about adjusting to life in America in a TikTok video, Newsweek magazine reports.
Among the biggest surprises? Portion sizes, jaywalking laws and dorm room beds.
Read the full story here. (December 2024)
