A joint statement regarding the recent Presidential Executive Order
Office of the Dean
February 28, 2017
By Georges Van Den Abbeele, dean of the UCI School of Humanities, and Touraj Daryaee, director of the UCI Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture
Dear colleagues,
The School of Humanities and the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies & Culture express their deep concern regarding President Trump’s executive order imposing draconian restrictions on the entry to the United States from Iran and six other countries. Among other communities, this executive order sends a chilling message to Iranians, Iranian-Americans, and to all academics engaged in the study of Iran. It specifically hinders the academic activities and intellectual freedom of the Center for Persian Studies at UC Irvine, as scholars and artists travel from Iran to take part in the activities of the center and the university at large. Moreover, the very feasibility of holding the 2018 international conference of Iranian Studies at Irvine, California, may now be in jeopardy. We support efforts to resist this unfortunate executive order and urge its immediate rescission.
Sincerely,
Georges Van Den Abbeele Touraj Daryaee
Dean, School of Humanities Director, Jordan Center for Persian Studies