By: Sydney Umstead, News Editor
The recent executive orders, and push back for them, has caused disruption and uncertainty on college campuses. Canisius is not alone in that, as much of the future under Trump’s administration remains dangling in the air as updates are occurring daily.
The Griffin sat down with Dr. Harold Fields, the vice president for student affairs, and Dr. Bridget Niland, the vice president for academic affairs, for a discussion on how the past few weeks have looked like for the administration, and what students should know about.
“Protecting the American People Against Invasion”
Trump signed the executive order titled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” on Jan. 20, 2025, which focused on a hold for the Refugee Resettlement program and a crackdown on immigration enforcement.
Trump’s executive order abolished a 2011 policy that prevented ICE from entering established safe locations such as schools, houses of worship and hospitals.
At Canisius, Fields and Niland stated that there is an established protocol in order if ICE were to come onto campus, with Fields working “closely” last week to make sure the protocol “stood the test of these current times,” as Niland described.
The established pact is that “Everyone who is on this campus – those living, working, studying – should know that a third party that comes up to them asking for the location or identity of any individual should just be referred to Campus Safety,” Niland continued. She added “that individual should feel without panic.”
After being directed to Campus Safety, all officers have been directed and trained to “not share any information or the location of any individual without a signed warrant or subpoena from a judge,” said Niland.
On the topic of Canisius being a declared sanctuary university, Niland and Fields discussed how declaring it by name could potentially cause harm. Instead, “It’s our sanctuary campus because to me, it's more about our actions than our words,” she explained. “Given the climate, I would actually feel at this time, if we have not made that declaration, we could actually open ourselves up to activity that we may otherwise not see.”
The results of this order have also forced non-profit organizations, such as Journey’s End Refugee Services, a Christian community-based program that aids in helping refugees, to fire employees as the Refugee Resettlement program has been paused tentatively for four months.
Canisius, because it is a private institution, has a different constitution. Fields discussed how “our charter and our mission definitely provide us some additional support.”
Pause on Federal Funding
Trump, on Jan. 28, attempted to pass a federal funding freeze that was inevitably blocked by U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan. However, administrators were forced to act fast, including those at Canisius.
Niland and Fields jumped into action quickly. Niland stated how they worked to “ensure that every federal dollar that we could access, that our intuition had been awarded, was pulled down prior to the freeze.” She also mentioned the fast-paced nature of how these policies were moving, specifically mentioning how while this was happening, there had already been movement to halt the freeze.
Fields mentioned how the constant updates and changes hold resemblance to pandemic times, as there is “a lot of information coming out quick.” Furthermore, Niland mentioned how “We’re going to continue to make sure that we are on top of that and we do not get caught flat-footed on any of these governmental changes.”
“Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Prefencing”
Trump’s executive order pertaining to DEI programs described eliminating “equity action plans,” per the order.
Niland and Fields disclosed that for Canisius, they are told to “look at this particular grant” and to “identify whether it violates the president’s executive order on DEI,” said Niland.
She also advised students to stay informed and alert, especially as the director for the U.S. Department of Education has yet to be confirmed, and is not scheduled to be at the time of writing this article. Specifically, Niland added that “we all need to take care of eachother and make sure that we’re responding.”
Trump’s Order on Gender Identity
Trump has ordered that government agencies cannot acknowledge pronouns. Right now, this only affects the federal level. However, Fields stated to “be watchful.” Continuing, he explained, “This is how, historically, legally, the government when they’re trying to bring about change, they’ll start with the federal government employees and contractors.”