Muslim students’ freedom also threatened?
Students and faculty across the country are calling on their campuses to become “sanctuaries” for illegal immigrant students – meaning they should refuse to cooperate with immigration authorities or should give such students special perks, such as additional financial aid.
A faculty leader at the University of Illinois, which just formed a working group to review campus policies toward illegal immigrants, is laying out a new rationale to refuse cooperation with the incoming Trump administration: academic freedom.
The chair of the academic freedom and tenure committee, Prof. Mark Steinberg, “initiated a discussion about a sanctuary” with committee members over the Thanksgiving break, The Daily Illini reports:
He told the [Senate Executive Committee] there is a sense of urgency connected to the working group’s efforts in wake of Trump winning the presidential election, and it is important to know where the University stands legally and what it is allowed to do.
“This is clearly a policy question and campuses across the country are discussing this,” Steinberg said. “We don’t want to be behind in what is becoming an important national discussion.”
MORE: Ivy Leaguers demand sanctuary campuses
He also said this is an academic freedom issue as well because it involves students whose academic freedom needs protection. …
“This really isn’t limited to undocumented students only, not to minimize their importance, but there is also an issue of Muslim students, Muslim faculty and a very large number of immigrants here on temporary visas,” Steinberg said. “Having a set of policies in place not just for academic freedom and tenure, but also for safety issues, is very important to our committee.”
Chancellor Robert Jones hasn’t committed to designating the university a sanctuary in response to petition demands, saying it would be a “complex” undertaking, though he signed a national statement supporting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
MORE: UCSB profs suggest ‘sanctuary faculty’ to help students with ‘hate speech’
MORE: Columbia to shield, pay for illegals’ education
Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter
IMAGE: Justin Henry/Flickr
Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.