Created 1 February 2017 09:02

Vancouver, BC – On January 25 2017, the President of the United States signed an executive order banning citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. This order has produced massive confusion and anxiety for academics in Canada and elsewhere. Faculty members, graduate students, and other scholars legally residing, working, and studying in Canada now face the prospect of being unable to travel to the United States for the duration of the ban, and those legally resident in the United States face the prospect of being unable to travel to Canada, for fear of being denied re-entry. This ban not only interferes with the professional and scholarly work of academics in all countries, but imposes a personal burden on families worldwide.

The Confederation of University Faculty Associations of BC (CUFA BC) strongly opposes this executive order and will monitor the effect this ban has on our members. All countries benefit from interaction and cooperation between scholars and researchers both within and across borders. The free flow and exchange of ideas is fundamental to the teaching and research work performed at our universities and this executive order is an affront to the values of scholarship, tolerance, inquiry, and international dialogue that are the hallmark of free and democratic societies.

This executive order imposes an enormous personal burden on the work and family lives of scholars and an untold cost to society. We stand in solidarity against this ban clearly targeting Muslim-majority countries and will support any efforts undertaken by university administrations to support and protect our colleagues and students affected by this ban. CUFA BC urges the government of the United States to rescind this executive order and allow the work of scholars in Canada and abroad to resume unhindered.

For further information contact Michael Conlon, Executive Director, 604-646-4677 (o), 778-994-2616 (c). The Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia represents over 5,400 professors, lecturers, instructors, and librarians at the five research intensive universities in British Columbia — University of British Columbia, University of Northern British Columbia, University of Victoria, Royal Roads University, and Simon Fraser University.