By: Maria Scacchitti, Staff writer

More than 30 LVC students have put together a petition to make the College a sanctuary campus. By definition, making the College a sanctuary campus would protect its undocumented students from legal actions and other acts of discrimination.

Junior sociology major Tamara Baldwin and senior biology major Vidya Lala were major contributors to the petition’s formation.

“If I don’t use my voice to help those who are forced to remain voiceless, then I have wasted the power that I have been given,” Lala said. “I want to ensure that [immigrant students] will be protected so they can take advantage of the incredible educational system [LVC] has in place.”

Baldwin and Lala plan to present the document to the Board of Trustees Friday. As of now, the petition has more than 200 signatures. It is available on a GoogleDoc and has been shared on Facebook.  You can read it here.

President Lewis E. Thayne, Ph.D. issued the following statement to the campus community on Thursday:

Dear Campus Community,

I know from speaking with students and faculty members that many of you are concerned about the future of undocumented immigrants in the United States, and some have requested that Lebanon Valley College become a sanctuary campus.

I want to assure you that LVC remains committed to protecting the safety, security, and privacy of all members of our campus community to the full extent allowed by law. Existing policies demonstrate this commitment. You can read about them here.

I have also recently endorsed proposed legislation called the Bar Removal of Individuals Who Dream and Grow Our Economy (BRIDGE Act), introduced by Senators Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham. This bi-partisan legislation offers appropriate protection to hundreds of thousands of young people who strengthen our nation by pursuing educational and employment opportunities currently allowed by the DACA program. In December, I signed on to the Statement in Support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program and our Undocumented Immigrant Students, a message initiated by Pomona College that now has more than 600 signatures from college and university presidents. I encourage you, too, to read this powerful statement on immigration from the United Methodist Council of Bishops.

Regarding the separate matter of becoming a sanctuary campus, I have spoken with the chair of LVC’s Board of Trustees and many other trustees. The Board supports the signing of the letters for the BRIDGE Act and DACA, but with me does not believe we should declare LVC a sanctuary campus. We stand firmly with all members of our community, but there is no universal definition or legal meaning or effect of the term “sanctuary campus.” Nevertheless, our policies are entirely consistent with our principles, and I urge you to take the time to study them.

If you feel strongly about this or any issue, take action: Write to those in office, read, do research, debate, and collaborate with others to bring about the change you seek. In these challenging times, I urge you also to engage with those whose opinions and ideas differ from yours, and commit to the free exchange of ideas and understanding on our campus.