{"id":26900,"date":"2017-02-03T17:26:31","date_gmt":"2017-02-03T22:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/?p=26900"},"modified":"2021-02-17T16:33:58","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T21:33:58","slug":"pardee-school-signs-apsia-commitment-to-diversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/2017\/02\/03\/pardee-school-signs-apsia-commitment-to-diversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Pardee School Signs APSIA Statement on Travel Ban"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"17-1096-PROTEST-328\"<\/a>
A crowd of approximately 350 gathered at Marsh Plaza Monday afternoon for a rally protesting President Trump\u2019s executive order banning people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. (BU Today)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University joins other leading schools of international affairs in signing\u00a0the “Commitment to Diversity” Statement issued by the\u00a0Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA)<\/a>\u00a0in response\u00a0to\u00a0the recent Presidential executive order restricting\u00a0visa issuance from seven Muslim-majority nations. Dean Adil Najam<\/a> signed the APSIA statement<\/a> on\u00a0behalf\u00a0of the Pardee School.<\/span><\/p>\n

Deans from leading schools of global studies and international affairs including, the\u00a0Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, the\u00a0Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, the\u00a0Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale University, the\u00a0Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, and the School for International Service at American\u00a0University\u00a0also signed the statement aimed at\u00a0 helping students, schools, organizations, and partners transform themselves into more effective agents of positive change in an environment of mutual respect for all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From the text of the APSIA Commitment to Diversity Statement<\/a>:<\/p>\n

People from all points of view, religions, races, and backgrounds contribute to the education APSIA schools provide. Our community of tens of thousands of students, faculty, alumni, and staff come from nearly every country in the world, as our schools are committed to diversity and inclusion.<\/p>\n

We know diversity is an asset. Our students encounter different and divergent perspectives, so that they are adequately prepared for the complex, interconnected world in which they live. They learn to separate information from knowledge. They build a framework to evaluate choices and form opinions based on the analysis of concrete information.<\/p>\n

Policy choices matter. They affect people\u2019s lives. That\u2019s why we dedicate ourselves to educating current and future leaders about the issues that connect us. By design, our schools and our students focus on international affairs and policy, because they want to serve a good larger than themselves.<\/p>\n

Our students come to master aspects of international affairs in all its complexity. The APSIA community remains dedicated to helping students, schools, organizations, and partners transform themselves into more effective agents of positive change in an environment of mutual respect for all.\u00a0 We will also work to provide a vehicle for representatives from our Schools \u2013 deans, faculty, career specialists, academic advisers, communications staff, and others \u2013 to consult on issues that go to the heart of what we do.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Pardee School hosted a town hall discussion as part of the school’s\u00a0<\/a>Beyond the Headlines, or BtH, series on February 1, 2017 that\u00a0 brought together expertise and scholarship on diplomacy, immigration law, security, intelligence and the broader field of global studies for a conversation\u00a0on the global implications of the executive order. The discussion, entitled \u201cRefugees, Immigrants, and Us,\u201d provided students and faculty from across Boston University the opportunity to share their thoughts and concerns on the executive order.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pardee School faculty have discussed the implications of the executive order in various media outlets, including Research Professor\u00a0Jessica Stern<\/a>\u00a0who published an Op-Ed in the\u00a0Boston Globe\u00a0<\/em><\/a>in which she argues the executive order on immigration\u00a0actually makes the United States less safe. Amb. Robert Loftis<\/a>, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Pardee School, was interviewed by the Christian Science Monitor<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on an official protest among career diplomats at the State Department in response to the executive order. Dean Adil Najam was interviewed by Metro<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>on\u00a0the effect the executive order on immigration\u00a0will have on universities across the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

Boston University President Robert Brown sent a letter to the BU community on January 29, 2017<\/a> calling the executive order on immigration “fundamentally inconsistent with the values that are the bedrock of Boston University and, indeed, of our pluralistic, welcoming society.” President Brown also published an Op-Ed in the\u00a0Boston Globe<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>on January 30, 2017 on the executive order entitled “<\/span>Trump\u2019s Travel Ban Diminishes Our Nation.<\/a>”<\/p>\n

From the text of the Op-Ed:<\/p>\n

The new administration\u2019s executive order to temporarily ban people from seven Muslim nations from entering the United States is fundamentally inconsistent with the values that are the bedrock of higher education, and indeed, of our pluralistic, welcoming society. The executive order diminishes our nation as a beacon for freedom and opportunity. As an academic community, we must stand together to support each other at this time of uncertainty and use a clear voice to affirm our principles and voice our deep concern.<\/p>\n

The moral argument against the action is amply clear. It has been described in many editorials and think pieces in the last several days. The order, now partially stayed by federal judges, may be more symbolic than effective in the long run, but the symbolism is extremely troubling, because it plays to base fears and bias against foreigners and sets us on a path to see every immigrant as a threat. In universities, we see things very differently. We believe that open immigration is good for the long-term health of higher education, our country, our economy, and our society.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can read the entire Op-Ed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dean Adil Najam joined deans from schools of global studies across the country in signing the Commitment to Diversity Statement. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11588,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11789,8414],"tags":[9860,1720,8585,10015,10006,8578,9059,8633,10016,8617],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26900"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11588"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26900"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26917,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26900\/revisions\/26917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}