International students around the country struggled to get visa appointments and dealt with high rates of visa denial at the start of the academic year. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that “virtually all” international students coming to Davidson made it to campus by the first day of class. Further investigation by The Davidsonian revealed that two international students were delayed in their arrival to campus and missed the first days of classes.

The Davidsonian reached out to both students via the office of International Student Engagement (ISE). One student declined to comment, but the other student who faced delays  spoke with the paper. They chose to remain anonymous out of concern for their privacy and future visa complications. 

The student, who is from an African country, got accepted early-decision to Davidson in December 2024. They declined to schedule a visa interview independently, because they said their high school would take students to visa interviews in groups once it knew how many were going to study in the US.

“They would put us in groups, and take us to the embassy together, and we have a group appointment,” the student said.

In May, approximately one month before the group interviews, The State Department stopped scheduling visa interviews for foreign students. 

The student’s June appointment was cancelled. After a month of waiting, The State Department announced on June 18 that interviews could resume. The student’s school scheduled another appointment for Aug. 26, 2025. There was only one problem: Davidson’s first day of class was Aug. 25. International student pre-orientation began a week before that, on Aug. 18. 

The student said they were in constant communication with Davidson throughout the process. 

“The International Student Engagement [office] would email me a lot to ask where [I was] at with the visa process,” the student said. “[They would ask] ‘How is that going? Do you need these documents revised? We’re going to send you a revised form of your F1 document, and whatnot.’ Every question that I would have they would answer as soon as they could.” 

However, the student was told that the latest they could get to Davidson was Aug. 31. Davidson does not have spring enrollment, so if the student couldn’t get to campus on time, they’d have to defer their enrollment until next fall. 

“At this time, we do not have a January start,” the College wrote in an email to the student which was shared with The Davidsonian. “Our offices are discussing with others across campus if that is feasible, but we cannot guarantee it.”  

The student’s school expedited their appointment to Aug. 13. However, on Aug. 8, five days before the appointment, the student received an email that their appointment had been canceled, and that the US paused all routine visa services at the embassy in the student’s country.

Their school continued to search for appointments in nearby countries. However, with that Aug. 31 arrival deadline looming, the student and their friends began checking for dates on their own. 

“We started looking for dates in Namibia, in Kenya, in different countries that are nearby. We wouldn’t even sleep, because dates just open up and people apply and they close,” the student said. “You’d wake up at 2am in the middle of the night, and you’d look for dates.”

Eventually they found and booked an appointment in Namibia on Aug. 27. Getting the interview, however, was only the first step.

“[Namibia has] this weird system that even if [the visa is] approved, you collect your passport with your visa in it on a Friday, whether it’s out on Monday or on Tuesday,” the student said. “Mind you this was a Wednesday, and [Aug.] 31 is on a Sunday. I need to be in class on Monday.”

If their visa got approved, they would have to fly straight from Namibia to the US. Because the student’s visa wouldn’t allow them re-entry should they leave the US, they had to say an uncertain goodbye. 

“I decided to have crazy faith, and I carried all of my luggage with me to Namibia, not knowing if I’m gonna get the visa or not. At the airport, saying goodbye meant saying goodbye to my family for four years, because I’m not going to be able to go back home,” the student said. 

The student’s faith paid off when they received an email on Aug. 28, notifying them their visa was ready. They began an almost 40-hour journey to Davidson on Aug. 30, having already missed the first five days of class.

The student arrived on campus on Aug. 31, and had to play catch up. According to Angie Edwards, director of the ISE, accommodating late arrivals “takes a village.”

“That’s everything from RLO [Residence Life Office] having staff ready to get a student into their housing after hours or over a weekend,” Edwards said. “Dining and CatCard services really bent over backwards to make sure that when students arrived they could get into Vail [Commons] and eat.” 

ISE also hosted make-up orientation sessions for the students.

“There’s some sessions we hold during international pre-orientation that are required for our international students, because we go over things like their visa requirements. If a student misses that, then we have to host an alternate session once they’re here, and do a makeup orientation for them.” 

After months of uncertainty and delays, the student had to tackle a new challenge: being a week behind on classes at Davidson. 

“It had been a lot,” the student said. “I finished my first classes, the first of [two that day], and I had no idea what was going on in that class. Everything is just huge and new and crazy to me right now. I couldn’t find my classes. I couldn’t even remember where the building that I lived in was.” 

During their turbulent first day, the emotions built up, and at a meeting with ISE assistant director Sayre Weir, the student had to take a moment. 

“I think I just broke down in that office,” the student said. 

Weir helped the student get their bearings and gave them a break from the bureaucracy of it all. 

“She took me on a tour of Davidson just to, you know, get me to calm down and like to see certain buildings, and to try and acclimatize myself to the environment, which was good. It was good to get out of that office and to just breathe for a minute.” 

While adjusting will take time, the student is confident they can go to the College for help with anything. The student is leaning on their off-campus support systems as well. 

“In terms of the faculty and staff [at] Davidson College, they’ve been very upfront about how if I need anything, I can go to them,” the student said. “I’ve got host parents as well. I’ve got a host mom who is amazing.”