U.S. Revokes Visa for Muslim Scholar

A Muslim scholar who had accepted a position at the University of Notre Dame had his visa revoked in August at the request of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Tariq Ramadan had been scheduled to begin teaching this semester, but he learned that his previously approved work visa had been taken away, according to Matthew V. Storin, a Notre Dame spokesman. Mr. Ramadan, a Swiss citizen who had been teaching in Geneva, had planned to arrive with his family in South Bend, Ind., in mid-August.

Kelly G. Shannon, a spokeswoman for the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, told the Associated Press that the visa had been revoked at the request of the Department of Homeland Security.

She cited a section of immigration law that was changed by the USA Patriot Act, but she did not clarify how the law applied to Mr. Ramadan.

Mr. Ramadan has been accused by some Jewish groups of being an anti-Semite and possibly connected to terrorist groups. He has denied such allegations. He is the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, a conservative Islamist political organization that was created in Egypt in 1928.

Earlier this year Time magazine named Mr. Ramadan one of the world’s 100 most influential people. The author of several books, he encourages Muslims to integrate into Europe without betraying their religious values. In February Notre Dame announced it had hired him for a full-time tenured post at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

As a Swiss citizen, Mr. Ramadan had been able to travel freely to the United States in the past without a visa. But to work, he needed the approval of the U.S. State Department.

Scott Appleby, the director of the Kroc Institute, said the university is asking federal officials to reconsider, or at least explain the reasons behind their decision.

Mr. Ramadan remained in Geneva last week and was not commenting to the press.

http://chronicle.com Section: The Faculty Volume 51, Issue 2, Page A14