Many of us are starting this new semester with heavy hearts and deep concern for the safety and security of our fellow students, some of whom are right now not being allowed back into the United States solely based on their nationality and religion. President Trump’s hateful executive orders are an assault on human dignity, and have jeopardized lives. The Doctoral Students’ Council resolutely stands behind our colleagues who are now stranded in transit and unable to come back and start their semesters. The DSC’s Executive and Steering committees have asked President Chase Robinson and Chancellor Milliken to stand against these xenophobic and unjust executive orders without delay. You can read President Robinson’s response here, and Chancellor Milliken’s response here.

Here are some quick resources if you or someone you know is affected by these executive orders:

1. Students and faculty in the United States with questions about their immigration status and/or travel abroad should write to Citizenship Now! at citizenshipnowinfo@cuny.edu. If you are detained trying to enter the United States, or you are abroad and need guidance, please contact CUNY Citizenship Now! attorney Isabel Bucaram, Esq. by text, phone call or WhatsApp at 646-860-5678.

2. If you’ve been adversely affected by the travel ban in any way, even if you are in the United States, please reach out to the DSC (dsc@cunydsc.org) or the DSC’s Co-Chair for Student Affairs (ccsa@cunydsc.org). We can advocate on your behalf with the GC administration. You may also just directly contact the Vice President for Student Affairs Matthew Schoengood (mschoengood@gc.cuny.edu) and/or Provost Joy Connolly (jconnolly@gc.cuny.edu), and let them know about your situation.

3. If you are affected by the travel ban and unable to teach right now, or if you know someone who is, please contact Luke Waltzer at the Teaching & Learning Center. From Luke: Any GC students who are teaching during the Spring 2017 semester and whose return to New York from abroad has been delayed and who may not be able to teach their classes this week should let the Teaching and Learning Center know as soon as possible by sending an email to Luke Waltzer (lwaltzer@gc.cuny.edu) with their name, the course and campus where they’re teaching, and when the course meets.

4. Meanwhile, some colleagues are collecting information from those of us who are able and willing to volunteer as subs. If you would like to be added to our list, please email Janet Werther (janetwerther@gmail.com), but know that you might be contacted by the Teaching & Learning Center directly to sub. Please send the following information: Name, Campus(es) you are able to teach at, Availability, Department and/or areas of expertise.

5. The GC’s Teaching & Learning Center has created a helpful blog-post on supporting undocumented students at CUNY, including some language to include in your syllabi (via the GC Resist Trump group).

The DSC Steering Committee is also looking forward to working with the Office of International Students to support those students who are now in a precarious situation. DSC officers are preparing to hold workshops on digital data security, self-defense, and other useful skills, so stay tuned by joining our listserv (email ccc@cunydsc.org to sign up) and following us on Facebook. If you have ideas or workshops you’d like to lead, please contact us at dsc@cunydsc.org. And as always, we invite students and their groups to use DSC resources like free reservable spaces for meetings and events, free legal consultations (email ccb@cunydsc.org), DSC grants for events, access to media for spreading your message through the student newspaper or a student-controlled open-access platform, a labor-solidarity group for adjuncts, and various chartered organizations.

Please reach out and let us know how we can help. As always, the DSC will continue to advocate for students.

Keep resisting.