Utah Says No to Sanctuary Campuses

The Utah Board of Higher Education initially sent a letter to the University of Utah, calling sanctuary campuses “impermissible.”

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Utah’s chief higher education official, Geoff Landward, warned public institutions against becoming sanctuary campuses, calling the move “impermissible” in a letter released last week.

Landward originally sent the letter to University of Utah President Taylor Randall in September, in response to a request for policy guidance, according to a copy obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune. Student groups and immigration advocates have called on leaders to proclaim the flagship into a sanctuary campus and to refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement. That effort comes amid the Trump administration’s far-reaching crackdown on immigration, which has included federal enforcement actions on campuses and against college students.

The Trump administration has also arrested some international students for engaging in protected speech.

While Landward conceded that state or federal law does not prohibit a college from declaring itself a sanctuary campus, he argued that it would run afoul of the state’s institutional neutrality policy, which the Utah Board of Higher Education adopted in late 2023.

“The designation of an institution as a sanctuary campus is inherently political, and an institution that takes this action would be viewed as endorsing a particular position in an ongoing political and policy debate,” Landward wrote, adding that the guidance applied to all Utah System of Higher Education institutions.

Landward noted that the guidance restricts colleges from taking positions on political controversies except in cases where issues may undermine institutional missions or functions. Even though some Utah students have been affected by the federal immigration crackdown, Landward said those instances do not rise to the level of impeding the university’s mission or function.

“Although we acknowledge the described impact immigration policies have on some U of U students, there is no indication that immigration enforcement by the federal government on the U of U’s campus is impeding the U of U’s mission or functioning, its role, or its values of free expression and inquiry,” Landward wrote.