STUDENT PRIVACY Government Probes Student’s Records By Liz cDonald Hoya Staff Writer

Federal agencies have made at least one request for the release of confidential records of Georgetown students, university officials said this week.

Although Assistant Vice President for Communications Julie Green Bataille said she could not give specific details about the request, she said the university did not a receive a blanket request for information about multiple students.

“Out of respect for the privacy rights of current and former students, faculty and staff, we will not provide details about any specific request in order to maintain the confidentiality of that information,” Green Bataille said.

The university’s General Counsel has requested that all requests from federal agencies be referred to their office.

“The Counsel’s office is making sure that any such request is handled consistent with the law and with full respect for the individual’s privacy rights,” Green Bataille said.

University Registrar John Q. Pierce said his office has not received any requests for non-directory information since the Sept. 11 attacks. However, Pierce noted that even before the attacks, the Immigration and Natural Services Agency have always had the right to request certain information about students studying at Georgetown with international student visas.

“The Office of International Programs would respond to those requests in the usual course of business,” Pierce said.

The release of student information, particularly of those who hold international visas, follows the discovery that several of the terrorists responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks illegally entered the United States with student visas.

Pierce said the university plans to use the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as its guide in releasing non-directory information.

The law, which aims to safeguard the privacy of students, says that a university cannot give access to a student’s records to another group or person without the student’s written consent. According to Georgetown’s undergraduate student bulletin, student records will be released “to persons in compliance with a judicial order or a lawfully issued subpoena [provided that the university will first make a reasonable attempt to notify the student].”

According to the Department of Education, records can also be released without student consent in “cases of health and safety emergencies” under FERPA.

Among the 220 universities reporting inquiries from federal agencies, the majority have already released all records requested by authorities.

Some universities have resisted disclosure of information.

Tufts University officials only reluctantly handed over data about foreign students, who constitute approximately 12 percent of the student body, following a decision from the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education.

Georgetown students expressed dissatisfaction with the release of non-directory information.

“It’s a violation of student rights – I don’t think the terrorist attacks merit that kind of violation,” Amissa Bongo (COL ’04) said.