President Jonathan Koppell and Vice President for Student Development and Campus Life, Dr. Dawn Soufleris, recently held their semesterly media availability.
The on-the-record conversation allows student media organizations to receive comment from the two leaders about ongoing campus matters.
Koppell addressed the recent news regarding the four international students from Montclair State who had their student visas revoked.
“There’s a portal where schools can check the status of their students’ visas and by checking that portal we can see when a student’s visa has been revoked,” Koppell said. “There’s no explanation provided. There’s just a change in status [and] that’s all we can see.”
Montclair State University President Jonathan Koppell speaking to student media. The Montclarion┃David Bien-Aime
He emphasized that this is a broader issue affecting schools across the nation, and that the international students at Montclair State are not facing treatment that is different from what other students at other institutions are experiencing.
“Just to be clear, there’s nothing unique about the way in which Montclair [State] students have been treated compared to other students nationally,” Koppell said.
However, given the ambiguity of the situation, President Koppell pointed out the lack of explanation for the situation in contrast to other high profile cases.
“There’s no explanation provided for that, which is distinct from several of the high profile cases that you undoubtedly have read about, where students have had their either visas pulled or they’ve been detained even on green card status with a clear attribution to their political activities.”
Soufleris noted what the university is doing to provide assistance to international students.
“We’ve worked individually with some of our international students and also have had some programs and gatherings for international students and provide them opportunities to talk with some attorneys that are not part of Montclair [State], but are from the state that help in terms of immigration and understanding of all of those things,” Soufleris said.
Dr. Dawn Soufleris speaking to the student press at Media Availability Day. The Montclarion┃David Bien-Aime
She added that the Office of Student Belonging has been working with the Office of Global Engagement to get students the information they need.
“…We’re supporting them the best we can in uncertain times when we don’t know what’s next,” Soufleris said.
Koppell acknowledged the value international students bring to Montclair State and expressed hope for their continued growth on campus.
“I think that international students add a huge amount to our campus and our community,” Koppell said. “I fully expect that they will be a big part of the campus community in the years ahead. And I hope that that population continues to grow, as it has for the past three years.”
Turning to legal issues, Koppell addressed the ongoing sex discrimination lawsuit Montclair State is facing, stressing the university’s disagreement with the claims made in the case.
“I will say only that we strongly, strongly disagree with the characterization of the circumstances that was presented in the plaintiffs brief, and look forward to the opportunity to provide a full recitation of the facts,” Koppell said.
The lawsuit, filed in March 2025, by two female employees at Montclair State alleged they experienced sex discrimination and retaliation within the IT department of the university. They allege that they were ignored and denied promotions after reporting sexist behavior by chief information officer (CIO) David Chun.
President Koppell and several other university officials are also named in the lawsuit, which also accuses the university of failing to take action despite several complaints.
He stated that the university’s procedures for handling complaints will not change following this lawsuit.
“We don’t have to modify our procedures, and are not modifying our procedures because we pursue every complaint that is made by an employee or student regarding discrimination or maltreatment,” Koppell said. “That is our process. We follow that process, and we’ll continue to follow that process, as is our commitment and also our legal obligation.”
President Koppell and Dr. Soufleris listening to the questions being asked by students. The Montclarion┃David Bien-Aime
When it came to discussing the new Dreamscape Learn Virtual Reality Lab coming to Montclair State, Koppell shared that it’s offered to the whole university. Originally planned to be in the Howard L. Fox Theatre, the space will now reside inside the School of Communication and Media.
He highlighted some of the plans to merge virtual reality with film and media, theater and natural sciences curricula.
“We’re planning to implement some of the curriculum that’s been developed, and we have faculty on our campus who are doing their own work developing curriculum in other areas and so we think there’s an opportunity, both in the natural sciences, but beyond, to integrate immersive virtual reality in a lot of our academic programs,” Koppell said.
Athletics was also a key topic discussed at the meeting. President Koppell and Soufleris also commented on the return of lacrosse after being demoted as a club team last semester.
“The reason why we decided to maintain lacrosse as a NCAA sport, both men’s and women’s, is because of a group of alumni and parents but alumni were driving the process [they] said we feel so strongly and have benefited personally from and want to see future students have the same benefit,” Koppell said.
Soufleris shared her excitement for the return of lacrosse, “I’m also very excited for our lacrosse men and women, they and the parents and alumni worked truly, incredibly hard to make this happen, and to see how happy they are, and to see their commitment to keeping this program going, it really warms the heart. So I think it was a good outcome here overall.”
Many stories are still developing with updates still expected to continue as everything unfolds.
