When education's under attack, don't light a candle

At 8pm on March 13, 2012, members attending the 2012 NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education annual conference in Phoenix, AZ, including leaders from ScholarshipsA-Z were asked to light candles at a Candlelight Vigil for Social Justice.  Meant to bring awareness about social injustices in AZ, specifically those that target LGBTQ and immigrant families, this event only attracted approximately 5% of the entire population attending the conference (250+ out of 4,700).  As a result, this "act of kindness" became a paternalistic and passive move in a community that primarily creates change through action, not vigils.  Fortunately for NASPA, there was at least one moment of inspiration when the chairs of the GLBT and Latino/a Knowledge Communities spoke out against Arizona's oppressive legislation.  Leaders like Dr. Michelle Espino (University of Georgia) and Dr. Juan Guardia (Florida State University),  brought TRUTH to the otherwise passive and politically correct event by impacting the hearts and minds of everyone in attendance with their words and promises for action.


When education's under attack, what do you do?  Fight back!  With candles? NO, with action.


Because while we were lighting candles, the Maricopa County Sheriff was organizing yet another workplace raid to detain and deport more hardworking members of our community who happen to be undocumented.  

Candles = silence = inaction = injustice 

- Matt
Director, ScholarshipsA-Z

Defining Courage: Undocumented Student Stories

We want to give a big shout out and much thanks to the leaders of the Border and Immigration Ministry at St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church in Tucson, AZ, who brought us to facilitate a workshop about ScholarshipsA-Z and the DREAM Act.  Special thanks to Suzanne H., one of our biggest allies. While the session was inspiring on many levels, everyone in the room shared in a moment of tension brought about by the words of one workshop participant.  With pure certainty and excitement that his "counterpoint" would change the conversation, he shared with frustration that undocumented students from Mexico should not be here, and instead "go back to their own country and fix it."  

Although it was clear that most participants and all of our team members were triggered, we did not dismiss his fears.  (And they truly are fears) Instead, his misinformed and hateful beliefs were simply overpowered by stories of struggle and the pursuit of a college education.  With the utmost courage, ScholarshipsA-Z's undocumented and ally student leaders discussed their desire for opportunity and justice, leaving this participant and the allies in the crowd both speechless and in tears.


Today's workshop was difficult, yet educational.  It caused anger in the middle, yet understanding in the end.  And, one of the most important lessons we can take away from this experience is that undocumented students have a level of courage that remains unmatched.  Perhaps as allies, if we had only half of their courage to speak out and fix our broken immigration system, a workshop about the potential impacts of the DREAM Act wouldn't even exist.  


Matt Matera
Executive Director, ScholarshipsA-Z 

Undocumented & Unafraid in Alabama

You're watching this video because Fernanda Marroquin, a talented DREAMer, has been arrested. As an undocumented student who is unafraid and unapologetic, Fernanda and the other 12 protesters arrested in Alabama's capitol on Tuesday, show us what courage really looks like. Watch her video. Listen to her story. Her struggle is our struggle. Read more. Help get the protesters out of jail.

Fernanda has a lot to risk, yet she IS UNAFRAID. Are YOU?

~Matt

"Secure Communities" Are Anything But

Recently, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it will "move ahead with its controversial Secure Communities immigration enforcement program, even if states do not agree to participate." Read more.

This move by President Obama's administration is disappointing and ridiculous. "Secure Communities" does anything BUT provide security to our families. Instead, it tears families apart and threatens the most basic tenet of a community: a sense of safety and care for each other. With this program, who will want to report any crimes in their neighborhoods, with the fear that they may be detained by ICE agents?

United We Dream notes:

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as of May 23, 2011, the U.S. government has deported 1,026,517 immigrants since the beginning of fiscal year 2009. That figure includes noncriminal immigrants and DREAMers who are victims of our outdated immigration system. (Read more.)

This program is a problem for ALL of us as citizens, DREAMers, etc. Don't let our broken immigration system continue to break apart our communities. Get in involved. Call President Obama at 202-456-1111. Here is a sample phone script.

- Matt

Co-director & Co-founder

ScholarshipsA-Z

Immigration Audits' Effect on Small Businesses

The New York Times just recently posted an article about how small businesses can survive an immigration audit. The article raised a couple of interesting points. First, it points out that one of the main “narratives” behind programs like E-Verify and the Secure Communities initiative is one of “unscrupulous employers seeking cheap labor” as Craig Regelbrugge, a lawyer and lobbyist with the American Nursery and Landscape Association. However, as the article points out, many employers treat their undocumented employees just as well as they would treat documented ones. For example, an East Coast agricultural business owner was forced to fire several members of his management team, who were being paid $12 to $15 an hour, well above minimum wage; they had vacation pay as well.

Furthermore, the immigration audits are rather ineffective. ICE does not arrest all the workers that have just been fired. As a result, the workers oftentimes stay in the area and find another job. David Cox of L.E. Cooke Company nurseries knew for a fact that several of the workers he had to fire found other jobs nearby. In fact, ICE’s immigration audits seem to harm the small business owners more than anyone else. Mr. Cox estimates that his expenses went up 10% for the year, and the East Coast agricultural business owner had to reduce his 2011 sales goals by 15%. What do you think of ICE’s immigration audits? Have you or someone you know been affected by the audits, E-Verify, or the Secure Communities initiative?

Mini-Legislation Update: So Close Yet So Far

Maryland was on the brink of joining the likes of California and Texas in passing its own version of the DREAM Act. It would have given undocumented immigrants the opportunity to attend in-state universities and pay an in-state tuition. However, opponents of the law have successfully gathered enough signatures (100,000) to send the law to the voters as a referendum during the next election in 2012. The law would have taken effect this month, but instead DREAMers in Maryland will have to wait more than a year just for the chance to get in-state tuition.

In other news, Alabama and Georgia are already feeling the economic backlash of their strict anti-immigrant laws. People have already started packing up and leaving because they (understandably) do not want to be around when the law takes effect. As a result, there is a severe shortage in workers despite relatively high unemployment rates. For example, there are not enough people to help rebuild and repair the damages left in the wake of Alabama’s recent tornados. Georgian farmers had to leave many crops to rot in the fields because of a lack of workers. The Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association estimates around $300 million in profits lost.

--Susan

Opportunity Costs of College

Today I’ve been reading about college admissions. More specifically admission boosts received by different “hooks” as they are called by potential college admits and counselors. Although there have been a few studies done about the benefits that each hook invests upon the applicants, the most definitive one I found was “The Opportunity Cost of Admission Preferences at Elite Universities” done by Princeton Professors Thomas J. Espenshade and Chang Y. Chung. They examined the profile of the applicant pool and the admitted students at five elite universities. Put simply, they found that affirmative action benefitted African-American and Hispanic applicants immensely at the cost of only Asian applicants. White students were unaffected by the policies.

If an applicant’s race were to affect their SAT score the boost would be the following:

▪ African-Americans: +230

▪ Hispanics: +185

▪ Asians: –50

▪ Whites: 0

They found that if affirmative action were to be eliminated the rate of admission of Hispanics would fall from 26.8 to 12.9 percent and that of African-Americans would fall from 33.7 to 12.2 percent. The admission rate of Asians would increase from 17.6 to 23.4 percent. The admission rate for Whites did not change. What this means is that Affirmative action does not affect White applicants, helps African-American and Hispanic applicants tremendously, and hurts Asian applicants.

Next the study looked at the effect of legacy admission. The study found that legacy admission had very little effect on the racial composition of the admitted class. The proportion of White students went from 49.4 to 51.5 percent. “Minority student effects go in the opposite direction, but they are not large. The African-American share among admitted students declines modestly from 9.2 to 9.0 percent, the Hispanic share falls from 8.3 to 7.9 percent, and Asians now account for 23.7 percent of all admitted students instead of 25.1 percent.” What this tells us is that legacy admission will probably change the composition of who gets in but will hardly change the racial composition of the class.

So if you ever get into a debate on affirmative action or legacy admission share these numbers! Otherwise, of course, you could just argue with truthiness.