Chimin Lee Metzler, associate director in the Office for International Students and Scholars, was honored this summer with the 2024 Advocate of the Year Award by the National Association of International Educators (NAFSA) annual conference in New Orleans. Lee Metzler was honored for her steady commitment to using her voice to advocate for changes that benefit the international student population at LMU and beyond.
Lee Metzler said she was honored to receive this recognition after being a part of NAFSA for 24 years and at LMU for 20 years. “Being a part of this organization, you meet people from all over the U.S. and overseas who are dedicated to international education,” said Lee Metzler. “I’ve been fortunate to forge connections with the amazing people within this organization, learning from them and getting their help when there are challenges, we face supporting international students at LMU.”
Joanna Regulska, Ph.D., vice president for public policy and practice of NAFSA and vice provost and dean of global affairs at UC Davis, made the announcement. “Lee Metzler showed great facility in communicating key messages to her elected officials while highlighting data points and stories drawn from her experience as a former international student herself,” said Regulska. “Since then, she has deepened her engagement with her congressional delegation while stepping up to serve as her region’s advocacy representative in 2022. In that capacity, she played an important role in organizing her peers from the field to join in-person and online advocacy efforts, including leading participants from her region at NAFSA’s Day of Action in 2022.”
“Chimin is extremely deserving of this award as she is committed to the field of international education and to advocating in support of all members of the international community,” said Csilla Samay, Ed.D., assistant dean of students for OISS. “She has served on the NAFSA Region XII team as an advocacy representative, and her advocacy on a national level has amplified the work that she has long done on our campus. I think it has added so much value for our students, seeing that we are committed not only to their success on our campus but also to OISS’s work on a national level to move conversations and regulations that benefit international students forward”
Lee Metzler, herself an international student from Korea, knows how important international education and exchange are to the students who come to U.S. campuses from around the world and to the institutions they attend to further what it means to become a global citizen. She began work with NAFSA beginning in 2017 when she became a first-time participant in Advocacy Day, where members of the organization work together on issues related to international students and their teams were identified as a key part of advancing policies to support international students in the U.S. “The energy that I felt when we were doing the training before meeting with members of Congress was electric,” said Metlzer. “People were desperate and angry after policy changes created travel bans limiting international students’ ability to come to the U.S. We were all hoping to make some changes, and everyone felt very energized that we were doing something constructive.”
Lee Metzler shared how she vividly remembers one of the international LMU Loyola Law School students at the time having issues because of the new travel ban. “I got an email that he was new from Iran or the Gulf area. It had just been reported to LMU that he was taken off the plane even with an international student visa,” said Lee Metzler. “I shared that information with the staffers, and they were very interested in asking specific questions to try to help the student. I was impressed that they are open and very interested in how they can help on the grassroots level.” Metzler and the other members of the NAFSA team also worked to really highlight examples of how international students are doing amazing work and leading the way at their institutions in scientific areas that can help the U.S. This furthered the support for policy needs that would help international students who are in STEM areas, by creating
After 2017, when Lee Metzler began consistently advocating for international students in California and communicating with legislative offices and the California Department of Motor Vehicles about how complex driver’s license requirements were for international students and scholars. Based on legislation, documentation rules, and conflicting requirements, students and scholars experienced a gap where they may be unable to drive. Lee Metzler and staff members from other California universities such as UCLA, UC Davis, USF and Scripps Research Institute in San Diego worked together with a state assembly member, DMV headquarters, and the California Transportation Committee to address some of these issues and concerns. She also shared her expertise on this issue with another NAFSA region’s advocacy representative, helping guide similar efforts in their state.
The team conducted a two-week survey of students and scholars impacted by the complexity of these requirements. The data was filled with stories and experiences of conflicting requirements and hardships. ” It was a very stressful situation for law-abiding international students who bring financial contributions to our nation; the process was not equitable or easy,” said Lee Metzler. “After COVID-19, their processes for DMV went online which was streamlined, and our concerns along with the conflicting procedures disappeared. There are other aspects of driver license issues that impact the international students and scholars and we need to continue to work in this area.”
For Lee Metzler, the best part of her role is meeting all the new international students from around the world, learning about them, and helping them navigate their immigration path to help them succeed and do what they came to LMU for, whether that’s a degree or employment. “It’s gratifying when you see international students come back as alumni, and you get to see all of their amazing contributions to the U.S., which is very rewarding,” said Lee Metzler. “I’ve never worked in any other field, and looking back, I’ve received a lot of guidance from my time as an international student to working as a professional in the international education field. I want to share what I have received with our community at LMU, and I am grateful for all the people I have met along this path.”
