On Feb. 22, at the seventh weekly Dartmouth Student Government meeting of the winter term, senators discussed ways to support the International Student Experience Office with director Șeun Bello Òlamosu.
Created in the fall of 2024, ISEO provides international students with resources, mentorship and opportunities to help them “both inside and outside the classroom,” according to Òlamosu.
Òlamosu shared that ISEO also works with the Office of Visa and Immigration Services, which advises students on maintaining legal immigration status, to provide “holistic engagement for students.”
“No international student profile is the same,” Òlamosu said. “So it’s very important that every single international student is connecting with their OVIS advisor to really look at [their] country, [their] year [and their] circumstances.”
General senator Julia Zichy ’27 expressed concerns about how international students are being supported after graduation and what work ISEO is doing to help students maintain their visas.
“Whenever I talk to international students on campus their main concern is being able to stay in the U.S. after graduation, especially if you’re not a STEM major, so you don’t have that five year visa,” Zichy said.
Òlamosu also shared a new resource — funded by the Center for Career Design — called Interstride.
Interstride was created in 2017 and aims to help international students with career, immigration and networking opportunities. Their platform connects students with international-friendly jobs in internships both domestically and internationally.
North Park senator Issa Allison ’29 asked Òlamosu how ISEO is supporting international students with “limited financial needs who want to go home during interim periods.”
Òlamosu explained that oftentimes, international students do not “feel comfortable” leaving the U.S., so ISEO invests in summer and winter housing during interim periods “to make sure that they are supported while they are here.” However, Òlamosu said ISEO hopes to work more closely with the financial aid office to support international students who want to travel home.
“The world we live in is created for mobility and migration,” Òlamosu said. “People should be able to go and come as they want. So ultimately, at some point, when things are stabilized, we will be able to look into that with financial aid.”
General senator Trace Ribble ’29 asked Òlamosu about advice or guidelines for international students who want to engage in civil advocacy on campus.
Òlamosu said that she wants international students to know they already have many advocates committed to helping them and should instead focus on their academics and mental well-being.
“There’s a lot of power and energy to really be engaged politically and as a citizen of the world, that’s a responsibility that we all have,” Òlamosu said. “But I want to assure you that under this climate, you already have advocates in place.”
Following DSG’s discussion with Òlamosu, WenDo Women’s Self Defense student organizer Rai-Ching Yu ’27 proposed a funding initiative, asking DSG to fund $2,000 to $4,000 for self-defense classes. Yu described WenDo is a women’s self-defense organization that focuses on empowering women and LGBTQ+ individuals by exploring how internalized oppression affects the ability to defend oneself.
“It’s really trying to focus on resocializing to show that as women, we have power over our own lives and have the right of our own body,” Yu said.
WenDo was previously piloted in the spring of 2025 and received “successful and encouraging feedback” according to Yu.
“Out of the 15 participants that we surveyed, 100% found WenDo valuable, 100% would recommend WenDo to other women and 100% agree that WenDo should be offered at Dartmouth again,” Yu said.
Student body vice president Favion Harvard ’26 expressed concern that DSG is not allowed to fund programs only open to a certain group per the Undergraduate Finance Committee. Yu explained that she is communicating with the Office of General Counsel on whether WenDo can be a class only for women and LGBTQ+ students.
In a roll call vote of 20 in favor, zero against and one abstaining, DSG agreed to conditionally fund $3,000 for WenDo if the General Counsel Office approves the course.
East Wheelock senator Sud Paul ’27 proposed expanding financial support for the Dartmouth Financial Aid’s termly coach bus vouchers. This proposal would provide Dartmouth Financial Aid with two payments of $5,000 to be used during this winter and upcoming spring terms.
The voucher program currently supports about 850 students, according to student body president Sabik Jawad ’26. The additional $10,000 funded by DSG is meant to raise the income cap of students who receive a coach bus voucher from $75,000 to $85,000 and provide 100 additional students with vouchers according to Paul.
“I think a big part of our job should be to see an actual impact in the lives of students, whether it’s coming to Dartmouth [or] going home from Dartmouth,” Paul said. “I think this will really help a lot of other students from particularly middle class families, who might just need that extra little push of help to be able to get back home.”
DSG passed the initiative with unanimous consent.
South House senator Jason Zhu ’28 proposed a DSG Constitution Review Task Force to examine the DSG constitution for areas that could be clarified, improved or amended to better reflect how DSG currently operates. This task force would be composed of DSG members. DSG passed this initiative with unanimous consent.
Jawad additionally approved $650 funding for a prayer mat initiative, proposed by Paul and Allison, to provide students with prayer mats during the holy month of Ramadan.
DSG Senate meetings occur weekly on Sundays at 7 p.m. in Collis 101 and are open to all students.
