New School leaders pledged that they would stand as a bulwark against President Donald Trump’s potential immigration policies, refusing to hand over citizenship information or allow law enforcement to detain anyone on campus without proper documentation, according to a Tuesday announcement.
The policy was already been in place, but the school’s board of trustees and senior administrators felt compelled to reiterate it since Trump’s incendiary policies have inspired New Schoolers to ask for their support following his election, university president David Van Zandt said in the Tuesday email.
Van Zandt, along with the trustees, pledged to “continue to welcome, admit and support students without regard to their citizenship status.”
Administrators will withhold any student records that would disclose their citizenship status from law officials without a court order, they said. They’ll also bar law officials entrance to any New School building to deport any New Schooler without a warrant, they said.
The New School has enforced this policy in the past and will continue to do so, officials said.
Van Zandt reiterated the fact that “there has been no action taken on [undocumented immigrants in the United States]; nor has there been any definitive plan or policy change announced.” He sent out the email in order to ease the anxiety of the student body over Trump’s stance and campaign promises regarded immigration, he said.
The announcement came after New School students, faculty, and staff expressed concerns over the implications of the president-elect’s anti-immigration stance on both undocumented students and international students. A petition organized by The Zolberg Institute on Migration and other university activists to proclaim The New School as a sanctuary campus for undocumented students circulated around the school community earlier in November.By Nov. 18, it had received 900 signatures, organizers said.
Nearly 40 students and faculty protested in Van Zandt’s office on Nov. 16 to support the same cause.
The New School is known for its diverse student body, with the largest number of international students out of all colleges in the U.S. According to a 2014 U.S. News & World Report, TNS is #1 most international university, with students from the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and 116 foreign countries.
It has a history of being a safe haven to Jewish scholars, LGBTQ and people of color.
Students were pleased with the board’s commitment to its international students.
“I think it’s wonderful that The New School is living up to its reputation and continuing its history of going against the grain,” said Jessica Felice, a sophomore.
“I am so proud that we are not giving up now,” Felice said.
Leaders agreed.
“I’m actually really proud of The New School,” said Robin Reinach, member of the Eugene Lang Board of Governors . “Just as we’re asking the New School students to think for themselves in difficult situations, the New School is thinking for itself in a difficult situation.”
Jess Mastro is a transfer student at Eugene Lang. She transferred as a sophomore and is currently a much happier junior at Lang than she was a freshman at the state school she attended before. Jess thrives in an intimate class setting where everyone’s ideas can be heard, especially hers. She is undeclared right now, but will most likely be declaring a major in film--which makes sense because she’s probably spent more time watching TV and movies than anything else, besides maybe sleeping. She was born and raised in Manhattan, and she sings mediocrely in her spare time.
