Call on Congress to Pass Legislation Protecting Dreamers
Miami, Dec. 13, 2017 – Today, more than two dozen distinguished American higher education leaders of public and private universities and university systems, liberal arts colleges, and state colleges representing hundreds of thousands of students, faculty, and staff from institutions across the United States launched the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a collective effort to improve how colleges and universities address immigration-related matters affecting their campuses.
The 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.
“Our nation has benefited immeasurably from the hard work and dreams of those who first came to this country as immigrants yearning for a better life and later came to study in our colleges and universities,” said Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón, President of Miami Dade College (MDC). “I’m thrilled to join this effort to help unleash the talent of immigrant and undocumented students who are ready and eager to give back to their communities and states and to our country.”
The Alliance is led by a Steering Committee that includes presidents and chancellors Nancy Cantor, Rutgers University-Newark, NJ; Noelle Cockett, President, Utah State University, UT; John J. DeGioia, Georgetown University, DC; Dorothy Leland, University of California – Merced, CA; David Oxtoby, President Emeritus, Pomona College, CA; Eduardo J. Padrôn, Miami Dade College, FL; and Timothy White, The California State University, CA.
“We call on all presidents to join us in using their voices to increase public understanding of how immigration policies and practices impact our students, campuses, and communities and will increasingly determine the future of our nation,” said Nancy Cantor, Chancellor of Rutgers University –Newark. “We serve the nation best when we help unleash the talent of those who have something to contribute, regardless of their immigration status or place of birth.”
“With the urgent threat that DACA recipients are currently facing, the Alliance and our member presidents’ first undertaking will be to urge Congress to protect Dreamers with permanent legislation as soon as possible,” said David Oxtoby, President Emeritus of Pomona College, which previously issued a letter signed by more than 700 college and university presidents urging Congress to protect DACA recipients
The Founding group of presidents and chancellors and the institution they lead include: Leon Botstein, Bard College, NY; Angel Cabrera, George Mason University, VA; Nancy Cantor, Rutgers University-Newark, NJ; Noelle Cockett, Utah State University, UT; Shirley Collado, Ithaca College, NY; Michael Crow, Arizona State University, AZ; José Luis Cruz, Lehman College, CUNY, NY; John J. DeGioia, Georgetown University, DC; Christopher Eisgruber, Princeton University, NJ; Mark H. Erickson, Northampton Community College, PA; Drew Faust, Harvard University, MA; Jane Fernandes, Guilford College, NC; Elizabeth Hillman, Mills College, CA; Paula Johnson, Wellesley College, MA; Kent Ingle, Southeastern University, FL; Elizabeth Kiss, Agnes Scott College, GA; Thomas LeBlanc, George Washington University, DC; Dorothy Leland, University of California – Merced, CA; Patricia McGuire, Trinity Washington University, DC; Diana Natalicio, University of Texas – El Paso; TX, Eduardo Padrôn, Miami Dade College, FL; Bart Patterson, Nevada State College, NV; Lee Pelton, Emerson College, MA; Carol Quillen, Davidson College, NC; M. Michael Rudd, University of Memphis, TN; G. Gabrielle Starr, Pomona College, CA; and Timothy White, The California State University, CA.
About the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration: The Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration is an alliance of American college and university leaders dedicated to increasing public understanding of how immigration policies and practices impact our students, campuses and communities. We support policies that create a welcoming environment for immigrant, undocumented and international students on our campuses.
For more information, please visit: www.presidentsimmigrationalliance.org.