To: J. Keith Motley, Chancellor of UMass Boston and Marty Meehan, President of UMass
UMass Boston Against the Trump Agenda Petition versus Trump's "Muslim Ban"
Help express your opposition to the recent executive orders of the Trump-Pence administration banning refugees and other travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries--Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. These orders have proven immediately harmful to individuals in the UMass community, separating families, and denying scholars re-entry from travel abroad. This cannot stand.
Why is this important?
We, the undersigned members of the UMass Boston community express our opposition to the recent executive orders of the Trump-Pence administration banning refugees and other travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries--Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
*This so-called "Muslim ban" is a shocking affront to our common values of equality, intellectual freedom, multiculturalism, and basic human decency.
*This executive order is discriminatory on racist and religious grounds, and blatantly denies individuals due process, making it unconstitutional as well as unjust.
*Moreover, it is counter-productive to even its stated aims of "protecting national security" as its state-sponsored bigotry does more to inflame resentment and hatred towards the United States around the world.
*These executive orders have already proven immediately harmful to individuals in our UMass community, separating families, and denying scholars re-entry from travel abraod.
This cannot stand.
We call upon our UMass Boston and UMass administration, including Chancellor Motley and President Marty Meehan, to join us in publicly denouncing the "Muslim ban." While Chancellor Motley has publicly registered "concern" about the recent executive orders, he has not to date spoken out publicly against them, as have university presidents at other institutions, from the University of Michigan to UMass Dartmouth. It is time for him to do so.
In December 2016 the UMass Boston Faculty Council overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling upon the administration to proclaim UMB a "Sanctuary Campus." We call on Chancellor Motley once again to take up this Sanctuary Campus call.
In addition, we call for our local campus administration and the UMass system as a whole, to:
*Mobilize resources to provide legal aid and financial support for those members of our community who are in the crosshairs of recent assaults by the Trump-Pence regime.
*Establish and publicize a 24-hour hotline for those in our community who are directly targeted by ICE, and that can connect callers with available campus and off-campus emergency legal resources.
Targeted members of our community, in particular undocumented people and persons from newly "banned" countries, must not be left to fight their legal battles alone. UMB and the UMass system should once again follow the lead of institutions, such as Tufts University, who have pledged such legal support.
At times like these it is crucial that our community unite, assert our shared values publicly, and turn back the tide of xenophobia, intolerance, and racism before it reaches our campus gates.
*This so-called "Muslim ban" is a shocking affront to our common values of equality, intellectual freedom, multiculturalism, and basic human decency.
*This executive order is discriminatory on racist and religious grounds, and blatantly denies individuals due process, making it unconstitutional as well as unjust.
*Moreover, it is counter-productive to even its stated aims of "protecting national security" as its state-sponsored bigotry does more to inflame resentment and hatred towards the United States around the world.
*These executive orders have already proven immediately harmful to individuals in our UMass community, separating families, and denying scholars re-entry from travel abraod.
This cannot stand.
We call upon our UMass Boston and UMass administration, including Chancellor Motley and President Marty Meehan, to join us in publicly denouncing the "Muslim ban." While Chancellor Motley has publicly registered "concern" about the recent executive orders, he has not to date spoken out publicly against them, as have university presidents at other institutions, from the University of Michigan to UMass Dartmouth. It is time for him to do so.
In December 2016 the UMass Boston Faculty Council overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling upon the administration to proclaim UMB a "Sanctuary Campus." We call on Chancellor Motley once again to take up this Sanctuary Campus call.
In addition, we call for our local campus administration and the UMass system as a whole, to:
*Mobilize resources to provide legal aid and financial support for those members of our community who are in the crosshairs of recent assaults by the Trump-Pence regime.
*Establish and publicize a 24-hour hotline for those in our community who are directly targeted by ICE, and that can connect callers with available campus and off-campus emergency legal resources.
Targeted members of our community, in particular undocumented people and persons from newly "banned" countries, must not be left to fight their legal battles alone. UMB and the UMass system should once again follow the lead of institutions, such as Tufts University, who have pledged such legal support.
At times like these it is crucial that our community unite, assert our shared values publicly, and turn back the tide of xenophobia, intolerance, and racism before it reaches our campus gates.