Music Scholar Barred From U.S., but No One Will Tell Her Why

[rodeodance]

another 'brilliant' move by our state Dept!




Music Scholar Barred From U.S., but No One Will Tell Her Why

Academics rallied to Nalini Ghuman’s cause after her residency visa was revoked last year. By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: September 17, 2007

Nalini Ghuman, an up-and-coming musicologist and expert on the British composer Edward Elgar, was stopped at the San Francisco airport in August last year and, without explanation, told that she was no longer allowed to enter the United States.

Her case has become a cause célèbre among musicologists and the subject of a protest campaign by the American Musicological Society and by academic leaders like Leon Botstein, the president of Bard College at Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., where Ms. Ghuman was to have participated last month in the Bard Music Festival, showcasing Elgar’s music.

But the door has remained closed to Ms. Ghuman, an assistant professor at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., who is British and who had lived, studied and worked in this country for 10 years before her abrupt exclusion.

The mystery of her case shows how difficult, if not impossible, it is to defend against such a decision once the secretive government process has been set in motion.

[saltpoint]

1. O man, these music scholars. You just can't trust 'em.

And this one specialized in ELGAR?!?!

Imagine the havoc she'd visit upon our quiet society were she to be let in amongst us.

And if there are any other music scholars roaming the globe free, let us pray they'll be rounded up and institutionalized so we can all sleep at night.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Obviously she's too educated and cultured to be admitted into this country.

She might expose some innocent American children to (gasp!) classical music.

Shades of Socrates! Pass the hemlock.

[Captain Hilts]

3. They didn't like "What's Up Doc?" nt

[rodeodance]

4. Not being told why----COULD happen to any of us!