Weber State University President Chuck Wight denied allegations that an email he sent early in the spring semester was for partisan purposes.

The email was in response to a Jan. 27 executive order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.

Of the seven countries included in President Donald Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order and travel ban, WSU has students from Iran, according to the most recent institutional profile data.

In the email sent Jan. 31, Wight stated in part, “We respectfully urge the Trump administration to reconsider the recent executive order on immigration and reopen our country’s doors to the many international visitors and refugees who help make our nation and university great.”

State Rep. Justin Fawson, R-North Ogden, believed Wight’s use of WSU email to issue a statement on the executive order violated university policy by using university resources to address partisan issues.

Wight provided a statement to The Signpost on April 4 noting that the email was not a partisan effort, and that it supported a part of the campus community.

“Although some have attempted to characterize that message as partisan speech, the Office of the Attorney General issued a formal opinion stating that my message did not violate any statute or university policy,” the statement reads, “and that ‘support of the campus’ international community is not a partisan political purpose.’”