Catholic University Reacts to President Trump’s Executive Order

     The Catholic University of America’s student community and faculty, including university president John Garvey, showed their support for immigrant and refugee students impacted by President Trump’s recent executive orders.

     Garvey released a statement on the university’s website on Monday in the wake of Trump’s recent executive orders to indefinitely ban Syrian refugees from entering the country, suspend refugee admissions into the country for 120 days, and block citizens from several Mus-lim majority countries, such as Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, from entering the United States for 90 days.

     “At this time we cannot know with certainty how recent executive orders will affect people seeking education, refuge, and citizenship in our country,” Garvey said in the statement. “Nor do we know yet how they might affect our University community over the long term. We are reaching out to our students and visiting scholars who are directly affected by the measures to assure them of our support and our commitment to help them navigate this uncertain period.”

     The university president further said that the school will communicate with the impacted students directly through the Center for Global Education as more information is made available to the university’s administration.

     Garvey also stated that he hopes the Trump administration will seek a path to “promote the common good of our citizens, including our national security, without departing from our na-tion’s great tradition of welcoming persons of good will who seek to make a better life here.”

     The university’s Student Government Association hosted a public event on the Pryzbyla Patio called “Solidarity Gathering” to support those affected by Trump’s executive orders. Speakers included student government president Kristina Pinault, student government vice pres-ident Lauren Werling, and Pre-Law Society member Noor Laith.

     A member of College Democrats expressed disappointment in College Republicans’ lack of presence at the event.

      “I was very sad that the College Republicans did not take part in the event,” said sophomore politics major John Connolly. “This wasn’t about politics or one party’s view on this ban. It was about one community standing together with each member.”

Connolly further expressed positive attitudes towards the event.

      “I was very moved by tonight’s gathering,” said Connolly. “Seeing so many in our community come together makes me so proud of our student body. Tonight’s gathering wasn’t about politics or political beliefs. It was about once common belief in the care and safety of every hu-man being. I went to show I stand with all people, regardless of who they are.”

      Other students at the event discussed their support for Trump’s policies.

      “It’s never easy to balance security and freedom, but as a nation we must protect our citizens first,” said sophomore politics major Wes Krol. “That must be a top priority. I believe that a lot of people are buying into a media narrative that does not tell the full story. People need to allow President Trump the opportunity to work, and actually look into the policy, and not just an article headline. I came to this event to see what people had to say, and I understand their concerns. However, I believe that much of these concerns are due to media spin. Times are different now, the world is different now and we must put the nation, and its citizens security above all else. So, I urge people to not just read an article headline, but to look deeper into the policies and allow the President to do his job.”

     While certain student officials from College Democrats were present for the event, some student officers from the College Republicans were not present.

     “President Trump signed an Executive Order halting immigration from a select number of seven countries in order to review and reform current security policies,” said College Republicans president Brianna Howard. “These seven countries were previously identified under the Obama administration as sources of terrorism. As the CUA College Republicans, we pride ourselves on informed beliefs, freedom of speech, and freedom of thought. There are many in this club who do not agree with the Executive Order and there are many who see the reasoning behind the Ex-ecutive Order. When asked to participate in the Student Government Association’s “Solidarity Gathering”, we opted out. As a student organization, we represent a large number of young Republicans with a certain set of ideals and while we support the efforts of the Solidarity Gathering, we did not believe that our presence in an official capacity was necessary.”

     The event ended with a performance by the school’s acapella group.