President’s Executive Order on Immigrants and Refugees
At the core of our mission as the School of Public Health, is our commitment to justice, community, idealism, caring, diversity, respect and humility. The recent Presidential Executive Order to ban immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries is starkly contradictory to our values in the School of Public Health and to the principles of religious and civil liberties on which our nation was founded. For all who have traveled from abroad to study and work at our University, and those of you who are not directly affected by this executive order, but are anxious and fearful about additional changes to immigration policies, please know that we cherish the contributions and richness that your presence brings to the School of Public Health and the fulfillment of our mission. Amid the chaos created by recent Executive actions, we wish to express in the strongest possible terms, our commitment to protect the rights of all members of the School of Public Health family, and we vow to work with allies in the University and the broader community to restore and protect your rights. Faculty and staff in the Office of Academic Affairs, the Office of Student Affairs, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, as well as the Ombudsperson and Interim Dean will all have our doors open to listen to your concerns and do what we can to help you address them. We are pleased the University of Illinois System and UIC administrations are closely tracking events as they develop, assessing the impact on our communities, and assembling needed resources. In closing, we reiterate the statement of President Killeen and other U of I System leadership that “our international community is a vital part of our excellence and reflects our steadfast commitment to diversity, inclusion, global engagement and impact in today’s society.”
Wayne H. Giles
Dean
Susan Altfeld
Associate Dean, Academic Affairs
Nadine Peacock
Associate Dean, Diversity and Inclusion
Geri Donenberg
Associate Dean, Research
Lisa Brosseau
SPH Ombudsperson
Richard Sewell
Associate Dean, Community and Public Health Practice
Jackie Finch
Associate Dean, Finance and Resource Planning