Administrators at Whitman “We used to be Missionaries but now we’re just Blue” College are working overtime to make the campus even more un-welcoming to rational students. As Shift previously reported, under semi-new President Kathleen Murray the school decided that being named after the calling of its namesake (Missionaries) was offensive to prospective students.
Going even further Left, in a letter to the Whitman community the day after the election, President Murray felt her students needed “space where members of our community can gather to share their thoughts, feelings and questions in a supportive environment.” With free pizza!
This week the students emerged from their “safe space” to, what else, protest. According to the campus paper, among their causes was a “petition to designate Whitman College as a ‘sanctuary campus.’”
What the students – and selected faculty – want is for Whitman to essentially break the law. The petition calls for administrators to “refuse ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] access to all college owned and contributed properties. … [and] refuse to share the immigration status of our community members with ICE or the police.”
Of course, the students are still in favor of the federal government they so distrust continuing to provide student loans and grants to Whitman students, even if the college refuses to cooperate with law enforcement. One professor raised the concern that “a more likely route that could be taken by the Trump administration would be to cut federal funding from colleges and universities that do not cooperate with immigration enforcement officials. ‘We want to make sure that we are never in the situation to have to make that no-win choice between our financial aid funding for students and reporting on undocumented students’” said the academic.
And President Murray showed her appreciation for the far-Left sensibilities of the protestors, telling them “I do look forward to working with all of you as we really do work to make this a safe and inclusive campus for all of its members.”
Any bets on how long it takes for Murray to side with the protestors, and decide that Whitman’s commitment to being “inclusive” will include refusing to work with law enforcement?
One can only hope President Trump will make the handing out of federal largesse (federally funded scholarships, financial aid and all other federal funds) strictly contingent on obeying the law. It’s only reasonable and fair.