Yale University has joined colleges across the country in the mass resistance to President Trump’s recent immigration ban, and the university’s president has weighed in on the controversy, according to Yale Daily News.
In an email sent to the campus community on Sunday, President Peter Salovey wrote “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.”
The executive order signed on Friday bars entry of citizens into the U.S. from seven Muslim- majority countries for the next 90 days, bars entry of refugees into the U.S. for the next 120 days and bars entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely.
Yale’s Office of International Students & Scholars recommends that students from the seven countries listed in the executive order should suspend plans for international travel. The office will also be holding meetings open to the campus community this week.
Hundreds of students and residents began gathering for a candlelight vigil just before the email was sent out. The student-led event was held to show support for immigrants and refugees, and top administrators including President Salovey attended in solidarity with the students, Yale Daily News reported Monday.
President Salovey’s message to the campus community stems from a petition that was created by faculty members who pressured Salovey to take a stronger stance against President Trump’s executive order.