Students, staff, community hope to make EWU a sanctuary campus
Signs like the one above have been posted in throughout Eastern Washington University since the election of Donald Trump. Students and faculty are petitioning the university's board of trustees to make Eastern a sanctuary university to protect undocumented students, whom Trump has said he would deport if elected president.
Students, staff and community members started a petition that asks the Eastern Washington University board of trustees to make the college a sanctuary campus for undocumented students, staff and their family members who face imminent deportation.
The petition is in response to the 2016 election results and president-elect Donald Trump's promise to increase deportations of illegal immigrants after he takes office in January.
The petition has 10 requests, among those are assigning administration responsibility for counseling undocumented, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), people of color, Muslim and LGBTQ students on their situation on a strictly confidential basis and "reaffirm the university's commitment to create a campus atmosphere of respect by denouncing the hate speech" toward those students. It also asks that faculty and staff receive training to support those students.
The petition so far has received over 500 signatures.
Several colleges, including the University of California Berkeley, University of Michigan and University of Wisconsin, have petitioned their administration to make them sanctuary campuses.
At the Nov. 18 board of trustees meeting, Chair Jim Murphy said he and the board received the petition the other day, and discussed it during the executive session the night before the meeting.
"There will be a response to the petition after careful consideration by the board," Murphy said.
The board was scheduled to make a statement on the petition, Nov. 22.
Dr. Mary Cullinan, who addressed students during a Nov. 16 unity rally, said Eastern is a state agency and the administration might be "somewhat limited in what we can do." However, staff is speaking with the attorney general to see what they can do legally to help students.
"Eastern accepts academically-qualified students regardless of documentation," Cullinan said. "We are taking these matters seriously."
During the meeting, the board set aside two hours for public comments on the petition, as well as any concerns students, faculty and the community may have. Twenty-five people spoke, many of them in support of making Eastern a sanctuary campus. Some concerns expressed included the lack of cultural understanding in classrooms and cultural competency training for staff.
Paulina Crownhart and Nicholas Estrada, self-proclaimed Republicans, said they were being stereotyped as racists and misogynists because of their political affiliation and felt they are not allowed to share their opinions on the issues.
Sarahi Gutierrez, a junior, said she would like to see a safe space for undocumented and DACA students. She would also like to see staff trained to help those students find resources for mental health issues affecting them.
"I haven't had a safe place to go to or found any resources because I'm a DACA student," Gutierrez said.
The board took written comments from the public after the comment period.
Cody Koch, Associated Students Eastern Washington University president, said his organization is working to make sure "all students are being treated with respect."
Representatives from various faculty organizations also expressed their commitment for the safety of all EWU students.
"We are making sure all students and staff are welcome here," Michael Conlin, United Faculty of Eastern president, said.
Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].
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