I am proud to share that I have joined the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration,
a collective effort of over 120 American college and university leaders
dedicated to increasing public understanding of how immigration
policies and practices impact our students, campuses and communities.
Together,
this Alliance will support adoption of best practices on campuses, and
work in a unified manner to communicate the need for federal and state
policies that create a welcoming environment for immigrant,
undocumented, and international students.
In the spirit of our Founding Statement,
the Alliance's most urgent priority is to urge Congress to find a
permanent legislative solution for the 800,000 Dreamers who will lose
the protections afforded to them by the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA) program.
It is our goal to help ensure that
Dreamers on our campuses go home for the holidays with hope and the
peace of mind that they will be able to return next semester, rather
than living with the fear of being separated from their families and
loved ones. We urge our leaders in Congress to pass responsible, humane
legislation that will preserve access to our institutions of higher
education and ensure that those who are registered for DACA or defined
as “undocumented” may continue to make contributions to America that are
already, indeed, documented and valued.
The Presidents' Alliance
on Higher Education and Immigration is made up of a distinguished group
of American higher education leaders of public and private universities
and university systems, liberal arts colleges, and community colleges
representing hundreds of thousands of students, faculty, and staff from
institutions across the United States. It is led by a Steering Committee
that includes presidents and chancellors such as Nancy Cantor, Rutgers
University; Noelle Cockett, President, Utah State University; John J.
DeGioia, Georgetown University; Dorothy Leland, University of California
- Merced; David Oxtoby, President Emeritus, Pomona College; Eduardo
Padrón, Miami Dade College; and Timothy White, The California State
University.
The Trump administration’s decision to end the DACA
program, announced earlier this fall, continues to be a matter of grave
concern to our colleagues in higher education as well as many Americans
of all walks of life. I reiterate today my commitment, and that of
Virginia Wesleyan University, to inclusiveness and acceptance of those
seeking academic and life success at our institution and others.
