Vanessa Miller, The Gazette
IOWA CITY — University of Iowa campus constituents continue to come out against an executive order signed by President Donald Trump banning immigration from specific countries and altering the visa application process.
Members of the UI Faculty Senate on Thursday sent a message to their colleagues notifying them of the work UI International Programs is undertaking on behalf of affected students and informing them UI President Bruce Harreld has joined other universities in signing letters from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association of American Universities.
“These letters encourage the administration to rescind the executive order and to support policies that allow talented individuals from around the world to train and work at our institutions,” according to the Faculty Senate letter.
Harreld on Thursday told The Gazette his team has been in meeting with students and campus constituents in hopes of determining how many might be directly impacted. And, he said, “as a campus, we’ll get through it.”
But, he said, “This whole thing, in my view ... is thoughtless, very poorly implemented, seems cavalier in many ways, and I’m not so sure it’s going to solve the problem that someone thinks we have.”
“It’s actually almost antithetical to the values I think our institution has, I think most Americans have, and maybe illegal,” Harreld said. “That’s not who we are.”