Students and faculty want President David Van Zandt to officially declare The New School a “sanctuary campus” and to establish concrete measures to protect international, immigrant and undocumented students, faculty and staff.
More than 600 individuals and more than 60 different groups on campus, including the University Faculty Senate, the University Student Senate and several academic departments and staff offices, have endorsed a letter that outlines exact steps for the school to take in light of the Trump administration’s efforts to target immigrants.
Signatories want the school to keep the immigration and citizen status of undocumented students and faculty private and secure, to increase financial support of such individuals, to provide free or affordable legal support for affected community members and to create a staff position dedicated to supporting undocumented students, among other things.
The final request asks the administration to publicize that the New School is a “sanctuary campus.” “A declaration of sanctuary is needed to solidify these commitments,” the letter states.
Activists at The New School are not alone in their fight for the sanctuary label. As of early December, students at more than 100 colleges and universities also started petitions calling for some level of sanctuary to be declared by the administration, according to the American Council on Education.
However, much confusion has resulted on these campuses. While some universities have been quick to sign on, others have been wary of the uncharted territory and questioned what they’re actually legally allowed to do to protect their undocumented students.
There is no legal definition or sanctions tied to the term “sanctuary campus.” It was derived from the term “sanctuary city,” but there are differences in what it means to different people. According to Rolling Stone, “Central to most petitions [for sanctuary campuses] are guarantees that a school will not allow [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers on campus or share any information it might have on a student’s immigration status.”
The New School’s Board of Trustees passed a resolution in November that enacted measures similar to such. The Board agreed it would admit students regardless of citizenship status. It also said the school would not release information regarding citizenship status to any law enforcement officers without a court order and would forbid any officer without a warrant access to university buildings for the purpose of detaining a student, faculty, or staff member for possible deportation. The fourth amendment also protects these individuals against unreasonable searches and seizures and thus could block any federal efforts to gain access to student data according to Jonathan Blazer, an immigration lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, and María Blanco, the executive director of the University of California Undocumented Legal Services Center, who both spoke to Rolling Stone.
These measures were announced Nov. 29 via email after about 40 students marched to Van Zandt’s office, chanting “Say it loud, say it clear: Immigrants are welcome here.”
While thankful for these measures, advocates have said they are not enough. The USS, The New School DREAM Team, a chapter of a college student organization named for the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, and others are asking for more decisive steps.
The USS stated the university’s history as a reason for signing. “What the concept of ‘exile’ was to the generation that initiated the University in Exile, the concept of ‘sanctuary’ is to us today. We feel strongly that we must ensure that The New School is a sanctuary in order to keep the meaning of the University in Exile alive,” they stated in a university-wide email.
Van Zandt reiterated his own commitment to those same ideals by also citing the University in Exile, which The New School founded in 1933 as a haven for scholars fleeing fascist Europe.
“That is why The New School’s doors remain open to students, scholars, creative thinkers and professionals from around the world, including those from the seven banned nations,” he wrote for the Huffington Post on Feb. 13. “[The New School] will continue to ensure a safe and inclusive academic environment,” he added.
After Trump signed into action the immigration ban against seven Muslim-majority countries on Jan. 27, Van Zandt sent out an university-wide email saying the school is working with immigration attorneys to navigate the president’s executive order.
The DREAM team and advocates who drafted the sanctuary campus letter, a coalition of undocumented and international New School students and concerned faculty and staff, are currently scheduling a date to meet with the president, they said.
“Faculty and students of campuses across New York are mobilizing to demand that their administrations declare sanctuary campuses and take clear steps to fulfill this commitment,” they wrote in the letter. “As one of the United States’ most diverse and international campuses, The New School must be at the forefront of this movement.”
Photo by Don Eim.