BSU Community,

We hope you had a wonderful first week of the new semester and are settling into your routine. We’re excited for the opportunities this semester holds and look forward to supporting you throughout the academic year.

We have some updates to provide as part of our commitment to keeping the campus informed around government decisions that may present an adverse impact on our campus community.

The White House Office of Management and Budget has rescinded a memo that had previously frozen federal grants, loans and other forms of aid. Here is what is being reported by the Associated Press.

With increased conversations online around the presence of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, we want to reassure our campus community we will not release student personal information in adherence to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Additionally, if any law enforcement agency, whether federal or state, appears on campus to enforce a directive, they should be immediately directed to the Office of the General Counsel, located in the Henry Administration building. They can also be reached at 301-860-3550 or by email, generalcounsel@bowiestate.edu. If that office is closed, please send requests to the BSU Department of Public Safety at 301-860-4040.

Lastly, we want to reaffirm we are moving forward to package and disburse financial aid to students registered for the spring semester. The official process will begin on February 20, after the spring add/drop period. The Financial Aid Office will work with campus partners (e.g., residential housing and student accounts) to process aid as quickly as possible, so we ask for your patience as the staff is processing a high volume of student awards.

We are fully committed to advocating for our students and the continued success of Bowie State University.