Letter Delivered to Provost and Chancellor with Pitt Sanctuary University Petition
Patrick D. Gallagher, Ph.D., Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer
Patricia E. Beeson, Ph.D., Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor
University of Pittsburgh
4200 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
RE: Call for the University of Pittsburgh to Become a Sanctuary University
Dear Chancellor Gallagher and Provost Beeson:
Enclosed please find a petition asking you to “immediately communicate the University of Pittsburgh’s Commitment to the safety of undocumented students of this institution, by issuing a public and procedurally biding statement declaring the University of Pittsburgh a Sanctuary University.” As of this writing, there are over 1000 signatories, the vast majority of whom are Pitt faculty, students, staff, and alumni.
As authors of this petition, we reiterate our support for Pitt administrators’ various statements concerning immigration and related issues following the presidential election this past November. As faculty and graduate employees of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, we are also grateful for the message of to our students and colleagues who may be affected by the President’s Executive Order of January 27 (“Protecting the Nation”), and for the Chancellor’s decision to sign the February 2, 2017 “Letter from University and College Presidents.”
We understand Chancellor Gallagher’s statement in the University Times that “it’s the people within the institution that take positions, not the institution itself.” But we respectfully suggest that your declaration of University of Pittsburgh policies consistent with our, University of Pittsburgh law faculty, and Pitt student group requests for Pitt to become a Sanctuary University is necessary precisely to counter what is already a clear “chilling effect” on the notion of Pitt—indeed, of any American university—as an institution committed to the safe expression of diversity and difference.
We note three examples. First, the Chancellor’s January 28 “Message on U.S. Immigration Decisions” urges members of the University community, and especially those “from one of the countries impacted” by the January 27 Executive Order, to contact the Office of International Services “regardless of [their] visa or residency status.” We are concerned that Pitt’s lack of a detailed statement as to its policies with respect to federal deportation or other immigration enforcement actions may ultimately undermine institutional trust among such members of our community. Second, on January 25, the President issued the Executive Order “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States.” Following this Order, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have in the past several days carried out significant raids in immigrant communities throughout the United States, contributing to the ongoing climate of fear we note in our petition letter. Third, recent interactions between Pitt and municipal Pittsburgh police, and student protestors have undermined student, faculty, and other Pitt community member trust in campus security and law enforcement.
An official declaration to the effect that Pitt police and campus security will not inquire as to or share information about any individual’s immigration status, and that unless required by a warrant or other valid legal process, no University of Pittsburgh official will cooperate with any deportation or immigration enforcement actions would send a clear and specific message to all members of the Pitt community that our campuses are indeed safe places for honest intellectual inquiry, dialogue, and debate, regardless of a person’s religion, nationality, citizenship, or immigration status.
Finally, such a declaration would join Pitt with at least seventy-five colleges and universities—including Columbia University and the University of California at Berkeley—that have issued statements consistent with the requests we make in our enclosed petition letter. At least thirteen of these institutions—including Portland State University, Wesleyan University, and the University of Pennsylvania—have explicitly declared their campuses “sanctuaries” for undocumented students. We join the one thousand-and-counting members and friends of the Pitt community who urge you to take the steps necessary for our university to do the same.
Caitlin Bruce, Assistant Professor of Communication
Peter Odell Campbell, Assistant Professor of English
Robin Clarke, Lecturer in English
Sarah Hakimzadeh, Department of English Teaching Fellow
Niq D. Johnson, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Communication
Sarah Leavens, Lecturer in English
Roger Rouse, Core Faculty in Global Studies
