Over the past few weeks since Donald Trump’s election, students at colleges across the country have been calling for their schools to become a “sanctuary campuses” to ensure that illegal immigrants can attend college without fear of being deported.
This past week, University of Mississippi student senator Allen Coon, along with other student senators, the Ole Miss NAACP President, and African Caribbean Association President Dominique Scott, were going to put forth a resolution that would declare Ole Miss “a formal sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, their families, and related community members.”
The resolution even added that the university should provide online courses to immigrants who have been deported or who have been imprisoned. However, Coon did not abide by the Associated Student Body protocol and did not contact any university departments in order to see how the resolution would affected them.
Before the ASB senate meeting, the resolution was leaked onto social media by Our State Flag Foundation and Mississippi Rising Coalition, which then prevented the bill from coming up in discussion at the senate meeting. That Tuesday night, Coon posted a statement on Facebook that said, “During the drafting process, I failed to abide by appropriate legislative procedures; as a result, the resolution has been withdrawn. I accept full responsibility for this mistake.”
However, Coon still believes that Ole Miss should be a sanctuary campus and in a statement to the Clarion-Ledger said that, “I do think that our student body should actively participate in ensuring any undocumented community members, that their dignity and bodies, are respected and valued and should be protected in our community.”
In response to the leaked resolution, the Ole Miss ASB executive officers also released this statement on Thursday. According to Jon Scott, the ASB does not have power to pass and execute that action. He said, “it can only request, or suggest, the action be taken by the university.” He also said that there have many calls to the university by people to gather more information about what exactly was going on.
Ole Miss Chancellor Jeff Vitter said in statement posted to twitter that, “I am aware of the resolution drafted by a few Associated Student Body Senators and some student organization presidents calling for the university to become a sanctuary for undocumented members of our community,” and added that, “As chancellor, my responsibility is to administer and operate the university within applicable federal and state laws, as well as the policies and procedures established by the Board of Trustees of Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning.”
If Coon and his co-writers choose to bring this resolution up again, they will have to wait until the spring semester. In the meantime, Coon will work to revise the resolution while following the ASB protocol on legislation. A petition has been made in support for the resolution, which has been signed by Ole Miss student organizations, students, faculty, and staff.
