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Sterk, Faculty Clash Over ‘Sanctuary’ Label By JuliA munSlow Exective Editor
By Alex KlugermAn Staff Writer
More than 200 University faculty members called University President Claire E. Sterk to designate Emory a “sanctuary campus” and institute a policy to protect the rights of undocumented students in the third set of requests in less than three months asking the University to demonstrate support for undocumented students. The Feb. 1 petition, signed by 221 Emory faculty members, calls for the University to create a policy that would uphold undocumented students’ ability to study on campus without fear of detainment or deportation and to protect students’ information regarding their immigration status. It also asks Emory to act as a moral leader in the South — to take a stand against the deportation or detainment of undocumented students as it did against segregation in the 1960s. Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Lynne Huffer, who was involved in drafting and gathering signatures for the petition, sent the petition via email to Sterk, Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Stuart Zola
University President Claire E. Sterk reaffirmed Emory’s prior commitment to supporting its undocumented students but will not label the University as a sanctuary campus in response to an Emory Sanctuary Coalition letter calling for Emory to adopt such a designation. Sterk’s Jan. 31 response to the Coalition — a group of students, faculty and alumni — came almost two weeks after the group sent her the letter requesting the designation and for the school to enact three policies that would demonstrate its commitment to its undocumented students. The term “sanctuary campus” remains undefined, Sterk wrote in her response, noting that such a designation “lacks substantive meaning for policy and practice.” Sterk acknowledged that the University’s reluctance to declare itself a sanctuary campus has been a “point of contention” among community members, and wrote that the interpretation of the term varies nationwide. Such a declaration “could have the collateral effect of reducing funding for teaching, education and research,
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Rollins School of Public Health students listen to demonstrators share personal narratives of how President Donald J. Trump’s executive order on immigration affected them. The demonstration took place Feb. 2 between Asbury Circle and the Dobbs University Cener (DUC).
By AliShA Compton Emory Life Editor “No hate, no fear. Refugees are welcome here,” about 60 Emory students — the majority of whom were Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) graduate students — shouted during a Feb. 2 demonstration to “stand up” and “speak out” against President Donald J. Trump’s executive order on immigration. Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order bans citizens of seven Muslimmajority countries from entering the United States for 90 days and indefinitely bars refugees from entering the
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country. Organized by eight RSPH graduate students, the demonstration included speeches urging the crowd to support those affected by the executive order, and featured personal stories from Emory Muslims, immigrants and refugees. The event occurred in the area between Asbury Circle and Dobbs University Center (DUC). Students walked from the RSPH bridge at 3:45 p.m. and began the demonstration at 4 p.m. The protest included a moment of silence for the six individuals who died in the Jan. 29 Quebec mosque shooting, an open mic and
chants that denounced Trump’s order — “From Palestine to Mexico, border walls have got to go” and “No ban, no registry, f*** white supremacy.” Students from the Candler School of Theology Jewish-Christian-Muslim Dialogue class presented poems and personal narratives about how the immigration ban impacted Emory students. Assistant Professor in the Practice of History of Religions and Multifaith Relations Deanna Ferree Womack gave her class a half-hour break to attend and participate in the
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By Seungeun Cho Contributing Writer The executive director of Freedom University Georgia, an organization that advocates for and provides free college-level education and resources for undocumented students in Georgia, criticized Emory’s decision to not designate itself as a “sanctuary campus as “a public relations strategy” in a panel discussing civil and human rights Thursday night. The panel, titled “Activism and Inclusion: The Struggle for Civil and Human Rights at Emory,” attracted more than 150 students and faculty to Harland Cinema. It featured Freedom U Executive Director and Emory alumna Laura Emiko Soltis (12G), Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Lynne Huffer and Freedom University Georgia Board Member Charles Black. Soltis disagreed with Sterk’s, arguing that a “sanctuary campus” designation would be a concrete measure in protecting undocumented students. “A sanctuary campus is more than a symbolic gesture: it protects real human beings from unjust treatment,” Soltis said. According to Soltis, Emory Sanctuary Coalition — a group of students, faculty and alumni — will hold
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By Alex KlugermAn Staff Writer
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Freedom U Executive Director Emiko Soltis, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Lynne Huffer and Freedom U Board member Charles Black speak about human and civil rights Feb. 2. a walkout in the Quadrangle during Sterk’s Feb. 8 presidential inauguration at 10 a.m. to urge Emory to designate itself a “sanctuary campus.” The Coalition asked Jan. 18 that Sterk sign its letter demanding University policy changes to support undocumented students by her presidential inauguration. Even if Sterk signs the letter by then, the Coalition will still host the walkout as a “celebration” of the poten-
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tial policy changes and the undocumented students at Emory, Soltis said. “We’ve helped changed the policies at Emory,” Soltis said, referring to the University’s 2015 decision to provide institutional financial aid to undocumented students with DACA status. Soltis said she hopes that Freedom U, which supports the Emory Sanctuary
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University President Claire E. Sterk,with 47 other college presidents, signed a letter Feb. 2 denouncing President Donald J. Trump’s recent executive order on immigration. Sterk’s endorsement of the letter, which deemed the order a threat “to both American higher education and the defining principles of our country,” drew ire from student group Emory College Republicans (ECR). Sterk explained her decision to sign the letter in a Feb. 6 all-Emory email, writing that Trump’s action “hinders Emory’s ability to be a global research university and curtails our global impact.” She also reaffirmed that she would support all students and faculty members regardless of their faith or nationality. Some departments and faculty members also condemned the executive order by sending statements to University administration and signing an online petition. ECR President and College senior Christian Zimm denounced Sterk’s decision to sign the letter in a Feb. 2 statement on the group’s Facebook page, citing her action as part of
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University administration’s “continued alienation of conservative students on campus.” College junior and ECR executive board member Julia Skyhar and Zimm said that Zimm’s statement, which defends Trump’s order as a temporary and necessary action to protect the country from terrorists, represents the ECR stance on the Feb. 2 letter. “The school administration is taking it upon themselves to impose their political beliefs,” Zimm said in an interview with the Wheel. “It’s quite hypocritical for the University to discuss diversity without really taking into account opinions that are different than [its] own.” Trump’s executive order bars Syrian refugees from entering the country indefinitely and suspended the immigration of citizens from seven Muslimmajority countries for 120 days. The letter by the university presidents’ characterizes it as “unfairly target[ing] seven predominantly Muslim countries in a manner inconsistent with America’s best principles and greatest traditions.” A Seattle federal judge indefinitely
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