Dear Orange Friends,
This week, my wife, Ruth, and I welcomed a special group of international students into our home for dinner. These students are from countries affected by the federal government’s travel ban. Ruth invited a lot of additional students at the last minute, because of news reports that the administration may extend the policy as soon as next week to additional countries that may include: Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania. We have students from all of these countries except Sudan.
The students we hosted are Orange. They are wonderful people who have all worked hard to be at Syracuse University and who belong here as much as any of us. Many of them have overcome great adversity—personally, financially and logistically—to be here.
These students have chosen to be part of our Orange community, and I ask you to join Ruth and me in embracing them during this tough time. The travel ban is a hardship that imposes great uncertainty. These students may be unable to see their homes and families for years. It is particularly important their Orange family shows caring in these circumstances.
At the dinner, Syracuse University staff members and leaders briefed students on a range of services and support we are tailoring to the specific situation of students from each travel ban country. We will be bolstering further the budget and staff of our Center for International Services, in part to assist in this effort.
I thank everyone in our Orange community who is helping these students. We live our values—including our rejection of discrimination based on national origin—by what we do for each of our Orange community members every day.
Sincerely,
Chancellor Kent Syverud