Every Ivy League school has released a statement responding to President Trump's executive order which bars citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from traveling to the US for 90 days, and bars all refugee immigration for 120 days.
Though the responses varied in tone, they all reaffirmed their support of affected students. Most offered the assistance of legal teams where necessary and advised against travel for students and faculty from targeted countries.
The Princeton note struck a personal tone, as President Eisgruber told students that the school's position on immigration "reflects our conviction that every single person on this campus has benefited from the ability of people to cross borders in search of learning or a better life." He wrote:
"My mother and her family arrived in this country as refugees escaping from a war-torn continent," he wrote. " They would have perished had they been denied visas. My father first came to America as an exchange student from a country that had recently been at war with the United States, and he then studied at Purdue University as a foreign graduate student."
In varying degrees of intensity, schools spoke out against the order.
University of Pennsylvania Provost Vincent Price noted the concerns in the Penn community related to the orders, saying "we share these concerns and are working with outside counsel to clarify the implications for nationals from these countries who are currently at Penn and for those who might be planning to travel to or attend Penn."
Brown Provost Richard M. Locke wrote that the school is "deeply troubled and concerned about this action and the detrimental impact it will have on our international students and scholars, our entire community, and our mission as a University."
And Yale President Peter Salovey bluntly voiced his distress, writing, "We are alarmed by this executive order. Together with many others in and beyond the Yale community, we question the motivation underlying it and recognize that it departs from long-standing policies and practices in our country," he continued. "All of us are worried for colleagues, friends, and family members who may be affected by these and other changes in immigration laws."
The words from presidents at the nation's elite colleges appear to be in lockstep with sentiment in the higher education community.
About 8,000 professors have signed a petition deriding Trump's executive orders on immigration. The petition, called "Academics Against Immigration Executive Order," include the names of 44 Nobel laureates.
