In a letter to the Harvard community on Monday, Harvard President Drew Faust outlined the university’s stance on Trump's executive order that imposed restrictions on travel to the United States.
Faust emphasized the importance of preserving diversity at universities, as well as the cost and distraction of these sanctions for students.
“We are all Harvard,” Faust wrote. “We will continue to insist that policymakers take full account of how fundamentally our universities depend on the ability of people to travel across borders without undue constraint."
Faust added she is confident that lawmakers can resolve immigration without invoking “large-scale disruption and distress” and while preserving the freedom upon which both our nation and university depend.
“We urge the administration, the Congress, and the courts to address these concerns without delay,” she wrote.
Faust highlighted Harvard’s “robust commitment to internationalism" and its desire to draws students and scholars from around the world. Almost half of Harvard’s deans are immigrants, she added.
Faust also outlined the steps Harvard has taken to protect students of undocumented status. With support from her office, Harvard Law School’s Immigration and Refugee Clinic hired a full-time staff attorney to represent and advise such students. The university is also working on a website with resources and has hosted information sessions and webinars.
Harvard also plans to hire its first Muslim chaplain to support Muslim students.
Faust said she was reminded of one of America’s founding pillars: “Ours is a nation founded and built on the bedrock of religious pluralism and religious freedom."
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
Donate