ACPA—College Student Educators International embraces core values including education and development of the whole student, diversity, multicultural competence, human dignity, outreach and advocacy on issues of concern to students, student affairs and services professionals.
We express these values within the deeper context of the “core mission of higher education to advance knowledge, people, and society.” (ref.)
We are committed to sustaining and growing the benefits of DACA for everyone in our campus communities. We all benefit from the full participation of DACA students. We are fortunate because we work directly in co-curricular experiences with these students who graduate and actively contribute to the economic and social fabric of our diverse nation. We get to witness the transformation in their lives.
We are convicted that DACA should be sustained and expanded and we join with more than 400 college and university presidents in stating that DACA “… is both a moral imperative and a national necessity… America needs talent – and these students, who have been raised and educated in the United States, are already part of our national community. They represent what is best about America, and as scholars and leaders they are essential to the future.” (ref.)
For more than 90 years, ACPA has been supporting students through the work of our professional members who understand that the disclosure of identity or identities (ethnicity, national origin, legal status, dis/abilities, domestic and sexual violence experiences, spiritual expression, sexual orientation and gender expression) is not only an act of self-empowerment, but also a strategic act in the life of many students. Learn more about their lives, here. >>
Disclosing immigration status can mean loss of everything familiar and casting away dreams and opportunity. We are in the business of tearing down walls and building up hope in the lives of students and, therefore, we invite our members and colleagues to join us in this statement of support for DACA and our invitation to US government leaders to meet with us about DACA.
Currently, there are 11.9 million undocumented immigrants residing in the U.S. and, as a result of the 1982 Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe, undocumented children are legally entitled to free public K-12 education (Olivas, 2012). An estimated 65,000 undocumented high school students graduate every year (Passel & Cohn, 2008).
ACPA members are doing our part to provide information, increase awareness and sensitivity to the needs of these students within campus communities and to create cultures of advocacy rather than adversity and avoidance. We need your help to achieve the dream of full participation in American society for all students. Please sign your name to this letter by completing this form.
Respectfully,
Donna A. Lee, ACPA President
Gavin Henning, Ph. D., ACPA Past-President
Stephen John Quaye, Ph.D., ACPA Vice-President
Cindi Love, Ed.D., ACPA Executive Director |
