Randy Yohe, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Marshall International Student Files Federal Immigration Lawsuit

West Virginia American Civil Liberties Union (WV-ACLU) legal director, Aubrey Sparks, said an international student, one month from graduation had his visa was unlawfully revoked. The organization is helping the student sue the federal government for relief.

Sparks says the federal government’s action was taken because her client, a Marshall University graduate student, identified as S.V., showed up in a criminal records check.

The lawsuit notes that in 2020, S.V., who is originally from India, was charged with a misdemeanor traffic violation of operating under the influence in Indiana for which he was sentenced to probation. His probation was terminated early as the result of his good behavior and compliance, based on the recommendation of his probation officer.

He then left the United States and returned in 2023 to study at Marshall on a new student visa. He disclosed the previous charge when re-applying, satisfied all requirements, and was permitted to re-enter the country under the new visa. He was in the process of applying for post-graduate work in the United States when he received the email ending his status. Sparks said S.V.’s charge does not meet grounds for visa termination.

“When he wanted to come to Marshall University, he applied for legal status to be here,” Sparks said. “He applied for his student visa, and he disclosed that earlier misdemeanor. And so the government reviewed it. The government subjected him to questioning about it, a medical exam to make sure that he could be here and should be granted entry, and he passed all of those things, and he was awarded his student status and awarded his visa. And then nothing has happened since. He has had no interaction with the criminal justice system. And so this idea that this is something new that came up just doesn’t have a basis in fact.”

Sparks said her client was one month away from graduation when the action was taken, throwing his life into turmoil.

“There was no prior warning, there was no chance that anything was wrong” Sparks said. “Just out of the blue, he gets an email that suddenly throws in the higher educational world into uncertainty, and so at a time where he should be focusing on the very tail end of his last graduate school classes and planning how he’s going to celebrate his graduation with friends and family, that’s all been taken away from him, because now instead, he’s trying to figure out whether he is in the United States legally, and what he needs to do to make sure that he is able to secure his degree. This is someone who is in a STEM field who has performed incredibly well in school, both at the undergraduate and the graduate level, and now he’s trying to work in the United States.”

In a WV-ACLU press release, S.V. said the experience has caused chaos for his education and career plans.

“I desperately want to complete my graduate degree and pursue work in the United States,” he said. “It is clear this wasn’t a decision based on my circumstance or experience – this was a predetermined outcome and they just said whatever needed to be said to justify it, even when it didn’t apply to me.”

In the press release, ACLU-WV Executive Director Eli Baumwell said that “International students and scholars are a vital part of our nation’s universities, our economy, and our communities. Unfortunately, it has become increasingly clear that the Trump administration is simply taking the law into its own hands in its crusade against noncitizens. Never before has a president taken such sweeping actions to revoke student visas, and that’s why we need the courts to step in and protect their rights to due process under the Constitution.”

Sparks said these types of international student lawsuits are happening around the country, and need to be challenged.

“I think that if we don’t take the steps to allow him to stay here, West Virginia as a whole, and Marshall, is going to be much worse off,” Sparks said. “Because he’s just been an asset to these places that he’s made his community.”

The lawsuit asks that there be a declaration from the court that S.V. still has his legal status, or alternatively, that he is not able to be detained or deported.

MU Esports Team Finishes Top Ten In National Championships

Marshall’s fledgling Esports team answered the call of duty at this weekend’s Collegiate National Championships.

The school’s Esports broadcast team covered the Thundering Herd foursome in action, competing virtually in the international Collegiate Call of Duty league. That league is a part of the NECC, which is the National Esports collegiate Conference. They house NCAA schools, NAIA schools, international schools and junior colleges.

Esports are simply competitive video games, used directly with a PlayStation, Xbox, computer, or other controlling device. Marshall Esports Director and Club Director Kyle Trapp said in its first year as a varsity program, the Marshall Esports team finished eighth in the nation out of 326 college challengers. The team includes Captain Niko Thibeault, Alex Carr, Nathan Crouch, and Jackson Short.

“We were in the southeast Appalachian district,” Trapp said. “Then you just play 15 matches. And whoever places the highest there, you get to go on to regionals, and then you have to win your regionals out. And then you go into nationals. It was a long journey to get here.”

MU’s team beat long running Esports competitors like Cincinnati, Wichita State and Cal State Fullerton before losing to Ohio State.

Trapp said his team,advancing so high in playing Call of Duty Black Ops Six, took great pride in all being from the Mountain State.

MU Esports team member Alex Carr “in the game.”

“All four of them are West Virginia boys,” Trapp said. “They were very excited that they were able to represent, not just themselves, but also West Virginia as a whole and Marshall.”

Trapp said Esports learning skills go far beyond being able to work a fast controller.

“It’s a lot of communication skills and critical thinking on the spot,” Trapp said. “The other thing, there are a lot of reactive abilities in mind. These guys were going to the gym twice, three times a week, making sure they were ready to go. There is a statistical study that if you go to the gym, your accuracy in first person shooters does improve by 60 percent. And they’re eating healthy. They weren’t just over there chugging Red Bulls and eating Doritos and all that stuff. They were actually drinking water, staying hydrated, making sure they were on top of stuff.”

Trapp is working with the school’s Broadcast Journalism department to create an academic major in Esports and Esports Broadcasting.

It’s a varsity sport officially recognized by the university right at this moment,” Trapp said. “The next level for me is adding five to six teams this fall.”

Christopher Swindell, MU professor of Journalism, teaches Esports Broadcasting. Matches are live streamed on platforms such as Twitch. Swindell said that journalism saw the explosive growth of Esports years ago and decided since players were already using the studio to livestream, the school should make it a class.

“In the last two months, the school finalized two courses officially in the curriculum, Esports Broadcasting and Esports Shoutcasting (not quite ready to roll out but on the books),” Swindell said. “In this move, the J-school is catching hold of that rising star – a billion dollar industry already with tournament action in Vegas that rivals any prize fight – all while sharing and collaborating with others involved, the College of Business, Computer Science, and Academic Affairs. The short term goal is a major,wherein a student can earn a gaming degree in conjunction with the specializations we are all offering.”

Huntington To Open New Low Barrier Homeless Shelter

As communities across West Virginia have implemented camping bans that target homeless people with nowhere to sleep, the city of Huntington on Tuesday announced a very different approach.

The city plans to open a new, low barrier shelter away from the business district but close to needed resources.

Huntington’s City Mission provides more than 160 beds for men, women and families. It’s location, adjacent to downtown businesses, has been troubling for some, particularly as it evolved into a low barrier shelter that welcomed anyone, including those with mental illness or in the throes of active addiction.

Huntington Mayor Patrick Farrell on Tuesday announced plans to open a new facility roughly 10 blocks away that will offer far more than a place to sleep.

“The new low barrier overnight shelter will bring key health and social services together,” Farrell said. “Providing on site access to wraparound services that we know are part of the long term solution. This is the most coordinated and compassionate effort our city has ever made to address homelessness. This isn’t just a safe haven for tonight. It’s a starting point for tomorrow.”

The new shelter is a collaborative effort between the city and multiple health partners including Cabell Huntington Health Department, Prestera Health Services, Harmony House, Marshall Health Network and Valley Health Services. The Huntington City Mission is not currently included in the collaborative partnership. Dr. Matt Weimer is the Valley Health President and CEO.

“My organization will provide services, medical services, behavioral health, substance use disorder treatment, infectious disease services at the location, with partners,” Weimer said. “There will be access to tertiary care. There will be access to nonmedical services.”

The shelter will be located at 94 3rd Avenue West, in a former city public works building. Renovations have already begun. The mayor said he hopes it can be open in the very near future.

Businesses Receiving State Funds Ponder DEI Orders

Following up on Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s Executive Order 3-25, a bill to codify the elimination of certain diversity, equity and inclusion programs has passed the Senate and is now in the House Education Committee under markup discussion.

While Senate Bill 474 pinpoints the executive branch and schools, some state entities that receive state funding are wondering how they fit in the mix.

At the main branch of the Cabell County Public Library system, Executive Director Briana Bowen said state funding covers as much as 20 percent of the system’s income for the year. She isn’t sure of the full DEI implications or ramifications on the library.

The bill calls for the elimination of DEI programs from the executive branch, primary and secondary schools, and state institutions of higher education.

Morrisey’s DEI executive order says entities that receive state funding, like the library, must eliminate preferential treatment of any race, color, sex, ethnicity or national origin over another.

Bowen said she’ll navigate the situation as best she can to comply.

“We want to do what we can do to meet those expectations,ut also be there for our community and uphold the values and principles that we have always been a part of which is supporting everyone from all walks of life,” Bowen said.

Bowen said library policies and programs aren’t really specific, but wide open when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion for all.

“Right now we don’t have any policies that deal specifically with naming DEI,” she said. “We do uphold the freedom to read and the library bill of rights, which tell us that everyone is welcome in the public library. We have a collection that represents everyone. We are the public library, and the public library is for the public, and it’s for people, and it’s for all people.”

Bowen said she knows the library will have to comply with certain things, but she said all branches will continue serving everyone.

“We will continue being there for our public and just still representing all backgrounds and people as best as we can,” she said.

MU Student Researchers Tackling W.Va’s Most Pressing Problems

More than 100 Marshall students will present their research findings on April 2 and 3 as part of Marshall University’s annual Research and Creativity Symposium.

Philipe Georgel is the Senior Director of Marshall’s Office of Student Research at Marshall University. He said the symposium’s goal is to alert the public to the vast research and creativity work on campus.

“By providing them a platform for them to present their work in terms of posters, in terms of performances for arts and media, in terms of all presentation, we expose them to the outside world,” Georgel said. “We want the people in the community to know that our students have done some fantastic things.”

Georgel said student research subjects range from better understanding weather patterns and flooding to building better bridges and more productive physical therapy.

“We have engineering students who are presenting some of their work in civil engineering about how to build bridges,” Georgel said. “We have people working in physical therapy who are telling you, what should you do to get your injury to come back to what you would like, which is normal.”

Georgel said student research on various aspects of obesity have found some possibly helpful curative links.

“West Virginia is high on the obesity list with links to type two diabetes,” Georgel said. “Type two diabetes eventually links to cancer. There are clear links between all three. So some of the students in the labs are working on aspects of how you transition from obesity to type two diabetes and type two diabetes to different types of cancer.”

The event opens on Wednesday with guest speaker Dr. Moshe Szyf. Szyf is a retired professor of pharmacology and therapeutics at McGill University in Toronto, Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Experience-based Brain and Biological Development program, and the Canadian Academy of Health Science, among other prestigious organizations.

Georgel said his talk, “How does the social environment talk to our genes,” will focus on the evolving field of epigenetics and how external factors like stress, nutrition and social experiences can influence gene expression and behaviors.

Georgel said MU student research into Huntington’s ongoing opioid crisis relates to Dr. Szyf’s findings.

A lot of students are looking at how the brain works and how opioids can affect different functions and affect our behavior,” Georgel said. “Our behavior depends on what genes are being expressed.”For more information on attending the free, two day event, click here.

State Tourism Funding Looking For Return On Investment

State research predicts more than 21,000 tourism and hospitality job opportunities will open up annually over the next five years.

Stakeholders in this flourishing field include everyone from students at a culinary arts kitchen to employees at a visitors center working to attract tourists to the Mountain State.

Students at Huntington’s Mountwest Community and Technical College’s Center for Culinary Arts were recently working on a proper flambé. Hospitality Management and Culinary Program Director Chef Lawerence Perry said the fully equipped kitchens here are working labs that teach students to prepare dishes at restaurant venues of all sorts.

“Whenever a student has completed their time here at Mountwest, they are basically plug and play because they’ve been able to use all that equipment that they will find in commercial restaurants,” Perry said.

First year culinary arts student Erin Hall said she came to Mountwest after reading online about the career possibilities for program graduates.

“I’m actually going to a program out in Wyoming this summer where the executive chef graduated from this program,” Hall said, “So I just saw where it could take me.”

Boone County culinary arts student Cassie Hawks graduates in May. As a high schooler, Hawks interned at the Greenbrier as part of the culinary arts WV ProStart program. Through Mountwest, she’ll go back to the Greenbrier in a few weeks, hopefully to begin her career as a West Virginia chef.

“I would like to stay working in West Virginia,” Hawks said. “I unfortunately feel like some West Virginians don’t know what high class food is, and I would like to bring that to them. But I would also like to keep it Appalachian, you know, down home cooking, but at a level that they’ve never seen before.”

Chef Perry said his students can go wherever their passions take them, but are encouraged to make menu choices come alive in the Mountain state.

“We have so many opportunities across the state,” Perry said. “We have state parks, we have hotels, there’s resorts. There are a lot of places that are needing qualified educated people that can be plugged right into existing positions.”

Nestled between a locomotive from the time of railroad magnate Collis P. Huntington and a former bank building that was maybe robbed by Jesse James, the Huntington Convention and Visitors Bureau works to put visitors into local restaurant seats. CVB Director Tyson Compton said his job is all about economic development.

“To let people know what you have to offer,” Compton said. “As far as restaurants, attractions, meeting space, then draw them into your community so that they will hopefully stay all night and then spend money in the community while they’re there.”

House Bill 2009 will abolish the Department of Arts, Culture and History – which West Virginia Public Broadcasting is a part of – and move all functions to the Department of Tourism. The bill passed the House and on March 12, went to the Senate’s Government Organization Committee. A philosophy among many in the West Virginia tourism and hospitality industries is to show the senators and delegates making decisions on funding that they will get a return on their investment. That includes Chef Perry and CVB Director Compton.

“I think the legislature really is focused on making sure that the return on investment in culinary arts and in the hospitality management program can really do its job,” Perry said. “To do that, they need to have qualified individuals. There needs to be money set aside for training and development, even for local industries that may not be looking for a certified, degreed individual can still benefit from one of our skill sets that we offer.”

“I think our legislators understand that in recent years there is a big return on that investment,” Compton added. “For every dollar the state spends on advertising that can come back as four to six dollars being spent in your community.”

Gov. Patrick Morrisey says that tourism is a major economic driver. He said merging Arts, Culture and History with Tourism will increase efficiency.

And, that flambé became a mushroom and crostini dish that would punctuate just about any West Virginia palate, including ours.