St. John's Suspends CBP Partnership

"Last May, the Catholic university in New York announced that it was partnering with CBP to create the Institute for Border Security and Intelligence Studies. A since-deleted webpage ( accessible via the Wayback Machine) shows the partnership was intended to provide training opportunities for CBP employees and offer professional development for St. John's students. The university also expected to use the program to place students into CBP internships and tap border patrol personnel "to serve as guest speakers, student mentors, and advisers to faculty.""

""After constructive, mission-focused conversations with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the decision was made to suspend, in advance of the one-year renewal, the academic partnership by mutual agreement," SJU spokesperson Simon G. Møller told Inside Higher Ed by email. Reporting by Gothamist, a local news outlet, and student media indicate that the partnership faced backlash on campus. Critics reportedly accused St. John's leadership of betraying the university's Vincentian values and argued the partnership was incompatible with its mission."

St. John's University planned a partnership with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to create the Institute for Border Security and Intelligence Studies, offering CBP employee training, student professional development, internships, and border agents as guest speakers, mentors, and faculty advisers. A since-deleted webpage documented those goals. After mission-focused conversations, SJU and CBP mutually agreed to suspend the academic partnership before its one-year renewal. Local news and student media reported campus backlash, with critics saying the partnership contradicted Vincentian values. CBP faced heightened scrutiny following the killing of Alex Pretti and questions about immigration enforcement tactics.

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