Universities and colleges in Indiana reacted Sunday to Pres. Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration that stopped people coming into the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries and caused people coming into the country to be detained at airports.
“The President’s order related to immigration is a bad idea, poorly implemented, and I hope that he will promptly revoke and rethink it. If the idea is to strengthen the protection of Americans against terrorism, there are many far better ways to achieve it,” said Purdue Pres. Mitch Daniels, former governor of Indiana.
Around 100 of Purdue’s 40,000 students are from the countries named in this week’s executive order from the White House and hold non-immigrant visas. Another 10 faculty are citizens of those countries.
“Currently, the university is not aware of any of its students, staff or faculty who have been left stranded outside the United States, however, the university remains concerned for them and their families as the result of this order,” said a news release from Purdue.
“The sweeping, indiscriminate and abrupt character of President Trump’s recent executive order halts the work of valued students and colleagues who have already passed a rigorous, post-9/11 review process, are vouched for by the university and have contributed so much to our campuses,” said Father John L. Jenkins, president of Notre Dame University.
“If it stands, it will over time diminish the scope and strength of the educational and research efforts of American universities, which have been the source not only of intellectual discovery but of economic innovation for the United States and international understanding for our world; and, above all, it will demean our nation, whose true greatness has been its guiding ideals of fairness, welcome to immigrants, compassion for refugees, respect for religious faith and the courageous refusal to compromise its principles in the face of threats.”
“We respectfully urge the president to rescind this order.”
Part of the statement from IU Pres. Michael A. McRobbie:
“At Indiana University, we embrace openness to the world. This has long been a hallmark of great global universities such as ours that seek to attract the best students, scholars and researchers from every country and champion the cause of greater cultural understanding.
“The executive order issued on Friday that bars citizens and refugees from certain countries from entering the U.S. is contrary to the very core of our values as an institution committed to excellence and innovation, a diversity of community and ideas, respect for the dignity of others and engagement in the economic, civic, cultural and social development of our state, our nation and our world.
“IU’s educational, research and service missions are inextricably bound with the rest of the world and rooted in a belief in the ever-increasing value of international literacy and experience. This is why we urge the administration to end this executive order, which threatens to disrupt these missions, as quickly as possible. We also would encourage the administration to make it clear to the rest of the world that our nation’s colleges and universities will continue to open their doors to the best and brightest scholars and researchers who, through their teaching, discoveries and innovations, play a vital role in enhancing our nation’s economic competitiveness and prosperity.”
(STORY FROM NETWORK INDIANA)
