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From the President: Immigration Restrictions

To Faculty, Staff and Students,

As a follow-up to the message that we sent earlier Sunday morning regarding the Administration’s executive order on immigration, I wanted to share with you a statement, issued by the Association of American Universities, that Penn strongly supports. Penn is an active member of the AAU, which represents the 62 most distinguished research universities in North America.

The issue of immigration and a well-functioning visa system is a critically important one for all of higher education. At the same time as our dedicated staff and faculty here at Penn work with us to support the international students who are on our campus from affected countries and others, our team also is reaching out to our government officials to express concern about the negative impact that this order is causing for Penn and our country’s mission of higher education. The AAU statement (below), summarizes the concerns that we will be expressing to our government officials, and so I thought it important to share it with you.

—Amy Gutmann, Penn President

Following is a statement by Association of American Universities President Mary Sue Coleman.

We recognize the importance of a strong visa process to our nation’s security. However, the administration’s new order barring the entry or return of individuals from certain countries is already causing damage and should end as quickly as possible. The order is stranding students who have been approved to study here and are trying to get back to campus, and threatens to disrupt the education and research of many others.

We also urge the Administration, as soon as possible, to make clear to the world that the United States continues to welcome the most talented individuals from all countries to study, teach, and carry out research and scholarship at our universities. It is vital to our economy and the national interest that we continue to attract the best students, scientists, engineers, and scholars. That is why we have worked closely with previous administrations, especially in the wake of 9/11, to ensure our visa system prevents entry by those who wish to harm us, while maintaining the inflow of talent that has contributed so much to our nation.

Other countries have set the goal of surpassing the United States as the global leader in higher education, research, and innovation. Allowing them to replace this country as the prime destination for the most talented students and researchers would cause irreparable damage, and help them to achieve their goal of global leadership.

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