Since the President of the United States, Donald Trump, was inagurated this year, he has put in place many executive orders that have stirred up the nation. Though some may be beneficial and some may lack obvious reasoning, one in particular caught CWU’s eye. Our CWU President, James Gaudino, wrote an email to all of CWU, announcing that; though this may be a “time of political turmoil,” he wants to make sure there is no fear among the CWU student body. He expresses that “Central Washington University welcomes people from all walks of life, from all places on earth.” He also says that we are a school that “embraces the value of a community enriched by diverse experiences, abilities, and cultures.” Gaudino wants students to “take heart in knowing that our university is deeply and firmly committed to promoting an inclusive environment in which students can live and learn in peace and security.” The proposal of the immigration ban upset many people around the world and left Central students with vexing questions on the subject of what would happen next? This order also may have left students feeling fearful. Seeing that Central’s campus has many international student, by looking at what the order has done for our country as well as at CWU, students can rest easy knowing that they are welcome here.
What has the order done?
- Suspended the entire U.S. refugee admission system for 120 days.
- Suspending the Syrian refugee program indefinitely. (The U.S. has accepted 12,486 Syrian refugees in 2016.
- Anyone from the seven countries- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen- faces a 90 day visa suspension.
- After the amount of days are up, the order will introduce a maximum of 50,000 refugees to be accepted in 2017, against the limit formatted by former President Obama, 110,000 refugees.
- Refugees that are facing religious persecution in their countries will get first priority.
At CWU we are welcomed with international students. At our International Studies and Programs Office, Director Sherri Fujita was interviewed to give students some insight on how the ban will effect some of our students.
Since, our President, Donald Trump, signed an executive order on immigration ban, how do you think this will affect our international students?
“Right now, it does not directly affect our students since the order was lifted. However, students are impacted emotionally. There is some uncertainty about the future.”
Our president of CWU, James Gaudino, sent out an email telling us though we may be fearful we at CWU “are a welcoming community that places the highest value on inclusiveness, free speech, and the open exchange of ideas and cultures.” Do you think this will remain true?
“Yes, absolutely. I have no reason to think otherwise. The faculty, staff, students, and the Ellensburg community are very inclusive, friendly, and supportive.”
How can we keep making our international students feel welcome at CWU, when there may be fear among students?
“The Office of International Studies and Programs just hosted an open house Friday [February 3rd]. Our hashtag was #YouAreWelcomeHere. We demonstrated our support every day in the way we conduct our business and interactions with other students.”
By going to the Central Washington University UESL Program page on Facebook, we are able to look at the open house, #YouAreWelcomeHere event put on by The Office of International Studies and Programs.
Click on this link to watch a video of how the open house went: https://www.facebook.com/UESLCWU/videos/730024783844801/