A top administrator at Portland Community College resigned after his school voted to adopt the label "sanctuary campus," weeks after Penn President Amy Gutmann declared that Penn "is and has always been" a sanctuary for undocumented students.
The chairman of PCC's board of directors, Gene Pitts, resigned from his position after the school’s vote last month to adopt the "sanctuary campus" label.
PCC, Oregon’s largest community college, is a recent addition to the list of schools that have designated themselves as sanctuary campuses. Such schools, which include Penn, have promised to protect their undocumented students by not allowing immigration officials on campus or sharing information about undocumented students with federal agencies unless required by law.
In his resignation letter, Pitts wrote that he felt “the decision to use the term ‘sanctuary college’ politicizes the college” and therefore was not aligned with the College’s decision to deem itself one, according to The Oregonian.
Pitts also expressed concern that adopting the label would jeopardize federal funding and place risk on over 40 percent of the students who receive the Pell Grant — a subsidy that the government provides for students who need financial aid.
While administrators at schools such as Columbia University, Wesleyan University, Swarthmore University and Penn have declared their campuses sanctuaries, Pitt is not alone in taking a stance against the movement.
New Mexico State University President Garrey Carruthers has said that his University “will not ban federal law enforcement agents from our campus,” and Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber also wrote that “colleges and universities have no authority to exempt any part of their campuses from the nation’s immigration laws.”
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
Donate