“President Summers is sympathetic to the cases of the students that have been brought to his attention,” Stone said.

“He’s used his office as well as other parts of the University to push the system on behalf of the students who are awaiting a decision and he will continue to do that.”

Harvard does tread a fine line, said Senior Director of Federal and State Relations Kevin Casey, since the University needs to maintain relationships and credibility with the State Department as it hammers out new post-Sept. 11 restrictions.

Along with other major research universities, Harvard is keeping track of its students affected by visa restrictions—and Casey will attend a meeting tomorrow to discuss the issue.

In the longer run, State Department spokesperson Patt said that a slate of improvements to the visa-issuing system might come into place, although he declined to discuss the particulars.

“It’s still in the discussion stage,” Patt said.

—Staff writer Lauren R. Dorgan can be reached at dorgan@fas.harvard.edu.