Earlier this month Rowan University faculty members in the Writing Arts Department were voicing concerns over the lack of clear guidance on the handling of potential encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on campus. 

Writing Arts Department faculty met for their regularly scheduled monthly department meeting on Feb. 5, deciding to shift the main focus onto ICE-related questions. This came after a growing number of related questions were made aware to the Writing Arts Department Chair Amy Woodworth. 

The questions were brought up shortly after The Department of Homeland Security ushered the go-ahead for ICE agents to make arrests in previously protected spaces such as schools, churches, and hospitals. Under the Biden Administration ICE was prohibited from while on or near “sensitive locations.”

“That order in particular called attention to in a way that faculty had not been otherwise thinking about. There wasn’t really a need to think about this before for faculty and the collective,” said Woodworth.

While time had run out the Feb. 5 meeting had faculty separate into breakout groups with hypothetical scenarios where members were charged with how they would respond to the issues. The meetings are hybrid with more than 20 faculty members coming together in person, the other half attending through Zoom. After analyzing each scenario the participants then shared their findings and insight with the collective and used it for a flow chart where they can turn to sets of consideration. 

Each set would allow faculty members to view an If Then scenario on the charts made.

“A big part of the point is that it really stinks when something like this happens or any of the off things that someone might say in any kind of live environment. That you weren’t expecting, you didn’t think you were inviting it anyway. And now you’re on the spot responsible to figure out what to do with this thing,” said Woodworth.

Faculty members like Woodworth have felt left in the dark when it comes to clear guidance from the university but since then a Know Your Rights page on Rowan University’s website has been established. The site page was established by one of Rowan’s strategic priority committees within the Division of Inclusive Excellence, Community, and Belonging at one of their meetings. After faculty raised concerns, members of the committee came to the conclusion that they needed a Know Your Rights page. 

While it doesn’t constitute legal advice, it shows support by providing immigrant students, international, and undocumented students with resources outside of the Rowan Community and addresses their questions. Since its creation, Rowan University has expanded on the page through with a Federal Policy Updates section. 

While students are being given some guidance, faculty are still awaiting for more clearance in terms of the ongoing executive orders like immigration crackdowns at the university. 

“There’s their broad base of concern about this. One of the things we’ve been asking for is clear guidance on what happens if ICE comes to a dorm, classroom, or faculty office. To be clear, I don’t think that’s likely at all. However it’s not impossible, so we could really use guidance on that,” said Bill Friend, Rowan University senate president. 

With ongoing executive orders still being issued by the Trump Administration and contested in state courts, the Writing Arts Department is continuing to work to improve its resources and provide its students with accurate information to support themselves and their loved ones.

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