Some Rutgers students from the seven affected countries were traveling outside the country when the ban went into effect, a campus spokeswoman said. Watch video
PISCATAWAY -- As protests against President Donald Trump's immigration order erupted over the weekend, Rutgers University's president sent out a letter to try to reassure the school's students and faculty.
Rutgers has students, researchers and professors from the seven countries on Trump's "barred entry" list who are currently travelling outside the country, wrote Rutgers President Robert Barchi. The university is working to help them with questions about their immigration status.
"We share the view of many of our peer institutions who have argued strongly that many aspects of the executive order run counter to the academic and social mission of higher education," Barchi wrote.
Rutgers students demand 'sanctuary campus'
Colleges across the nation scrambled over the weekend to react to Trump's executive order that limits citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen -- from entering the U.S. for at least 90 days. The order led to confusion in airports and legal challenges.
About 17,000 students from the seven affected countries attend U.S. colleges and universities, making Trump's order a major concern on campuses nationwide.
The Rutgers president's letter drew criticism from some students, alumni and faculty who said the head of the state university should have come out strongly against Trump's immigration order.
"This is a weak response by Rutgers 'leadership' with no clear indication of support for those unjustly treated by this unconstitutional executive order. Incredibly disappointing," Faizan Munshi, a Rutgers medical student, wrote on Facebook.
When asked about the criticism of Barchi's statement, a Rutgers spokeswoman said the university shares the view of many of its peer institutions, including members of the Association of American Universities, that have argued against Trump's executive order.
"President Barchi has made it very clear that Rutgers strongly supports and protects all of our students, including undocumented students and those who have come to study at Rutgers from other countries. President Trump's executive order doesn't change our position," said Karen Smith, a Rutgers spokeswoman.
Smith said some Rutgers students from the seven affected countries were traveling outside the country when the ban went into effect, but she declined to give any details "out of respect for their privacy and security."
Some college presidents sharply criticized Trump.
Columbia University President Lee Bollinger send a letter to the Ivy League campus saying it is important for the institution to object publicly to the immigration ban.
"This order undermines the nation's continuing commitment to remain open to the exchange of people and ideas. We must not underestimate the scale of its impact," Bollinger wrote.
University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel released a statement saying the school remains committed to international students and will not release immigration status information about its students.
"Our ability to attract the best students and faculty from around the globe enhances our teaching, learning, research and societal impact and is in part responsible for our standing as a great public research university," the University of Michigan statement said.
At Princeton University, President Christopher Eisgruber said the school believes that everyone on campus benefits from the ability of people to cross borders to get an education.
"That is emphatically true for me. My mother and her family arrived in this country as refugees escaping from a war-torn continent. They would have perished had they been denied visas," Eisgruber, whose parents were German immigrants, said in a letter to the campus.
New Jersey's Catholic colleges joined in a statement from the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities released Sunday opposing Trump's immigration order.
"Catholic higher education was founded precisely to serve the children of Catholic immigrants who in their own time were excluded from higher education. This is a legacy that we proudly pledge to continue," the ACCU letter said.
The New Jersey Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union, also issued a statement condemning Trump's immigration actions.
"The Trump administration has employed rhetoric, and is now taking actions, that undermine American democracy. The President and those around him have created a climate of fear and distrust that is harmful to all of us, but particularly to the children we educate," NJEA President Wendell Steinhauer, vice president Marie Blistan and secretary-treasurer Sean Spiller said in a joint statement.
Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.