Local universities say they will be in touch with students about the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision Monday to allow the Trump administration to fully enforce a ban on travel to the United States by residents of six mostly Muslim countries.
Local universities say they will be in touch with students about the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision Monday to allow the Trump administration to fully enforce a ban on travel to the United States by residents of six mostly Muslim countries.
University of Houston spokesman Mike Rosen said administrators plan to alert students from the affected countries to the federal policy changes on Tuesday.
“We make a habit of ensuring that our student community is aware of our policies that affect them (and) are related to national developments,” he said.
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Rice University spokesman B. J. Almond said in an email that the school is reviewing the announcement’s details and potential impact. The university’s Office of International Students and Scholars will keep students and faculty informed, he said.
Administrators at Texas Southern University did not immediately respond to requests for comment on how the executive order would affect their students and professors. The president of the University of Texas at Austin did not email students about the decision, a spokesman said.
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After federal officials announced the initial executive order in late January, university leaders across the state tried to determine which of their students were directly affected by the ban and urged all students who are citizens of the countries named in that order to remain inside the U. S. as interpretations of the law shifted.
“The openness of our campuses to talented students from all over the world is for us a core value. We intend to advocate forcefully to defend that value, and to protect our students and our educational mission,” Rice President David Leebron said in an email to students, faculty and staff in January.
Monday’s decision is not a final ruling on the travel ban: Challenges to the policy are winding through the federal courts, and the justices themselves ultimately are expected to rule on its legality.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. Lindsay Ellis writes about higher education for the Chronicle. You can follow her on Twitter and send her tips at lindsay.ellis@chron.com.
