NADOHE and ACAO Statement on Executive Order 


On Friday, January 27, 2017, President Trump issued an executive order which, for the next 90 days, suspends entry into the United States “immigrants and nonimmigrants” from seven countries. Colleges and universities across the United States find themselves directly and immediately impacted by this executive order. Institutions are carefully reviewing the details of the executive order, in many cases are advising faculty, staff, and students from these countries not to travel outside the U.S., and for those who are currently outside the U.S., their status and ability to return is not certain. 


We, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) and the Association of Chief Academic Officers (ACAO) join with others in expressing our concerns with the manner in which the executive order was implemented. This approach threatens the core values of our institutions to be diverse and inclusive, and home to the best and brightest scholars, students, and staff regardless of country of origin. 

The issues associated with the executive order are evolving, and in the weeks and months to come, ACAO and NADOHE, and others in the higher education community have a responsibility to each other, and to our respective campuses to advocate for fairness, justice and equal treatment under the law. 
Each of us must be a voice that insists on fair and just treatment of immigrants to this great country, who also generate transformative research, create new knowledge, and who represent the workforce of the future that can navigate global environments. Silence in the face of this unjust executive order is an abdication of our collective social responsibilities.