Whitman President Kathleen Murray released a statement Monday night condemning President Trump’s recent Executive Order banning entry to the United States by citizens of Iran, Libya, Sudan, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen and Syria. Since the executive action was announced, protests have erupted around the country, centering mainly on airports where citizens of the specified countries have been held.

Murray called the President’s order “morally wrong.” She continued, “At Whitman, we seek to establish a vibrant community of individuals who are intellectually talented, have the potential to be leaders in and out of the classroom and are from diverse backgrounds both nationally and internationally.  This order threatens that work for both Whitman and the broader higher education community.”

Read the full text of the statement here.

As the statement was released, hundreds of members of the Whitman community gathered at Walla Walla Airport to voice their opposition to the ban and show their support for the immigrants impacted by the executive action.

Watch the video of Whitman community members protesting at Walla Walla Airport here. 

Murray’s statement also encouraged members of the community to take direct political action.

“Now more than ever it is important to communicate directly with our elected officials,” the statement read. “I have reached out to our own representatives to make our stance on this issue known and want to encourage all of you to make your views known.”

According to the statement, there are no Whitman students directly impacted by the ban, but the school recently set up an immigration working group to help address all immigration-related issues. Murray encouraged community members to visit the new immigration resources page on the Whitman website or to contact Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Kazi Joshua at [email protected] with more questions or concerns.