Filipino Students Face a Closing Door at American Universities

There is an undercurrent of antagonism in American universities against Filipino students, and it is more manifest now than ever before, according to J. de G. Rodriguez, secretary of the organization of Filipino students in America with headquarters in New York City.

"I have received several complaints from our boys in different universities," he said, "against the treatment they are getting from university authorities. I have investigated these complaints and I have found them to be, in most cases, justified. There is a growing movement in America to discriminate against Filipino students. In the University of Washington for admission, only four were admitted. Last year, only one Filipino student was admitted out of 20 applicants. In the state of Washington also, Filipino high school graduates must take one year additional work in the Washington high schools before they can be considered for entrance examination in the University of Washington.

Oregon, California, and other western states are getting ready to clamp the lid against Filipino students. The same is true in the mid-western and eastern states. This is especially so in universities where there are a number of Filipinos. Where there is only one or two, they are tolerated. But when they come in increasing numbers, they create social problems and alienate the Americans. It must be said that in most cases it is our boys who are to blame. Those who fail to pass their examinations here or are expelled or who know they cannot make the grade in our schools, go to America, and the result is that they give the country a black eye in the university where they enroll."