Chair Talk 3.11 Speaking Up for All Our Students

I have been working with others at the UA and ASU on a letter to be sent to the Regents concerning the DACA students - the text is below.  We want to gather as many signatures as we possibly can -- the letter must be delivered Monday morning.  If you would like to add your name to this letter please let me know ASAP by replying to me at "nadel@u.arizona.edu".  I'm hoping we get over a thousand signers.

Lynn Nadel
Chair of the Faculty

LETTER TO BE SENT TO ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS

PREFATORY NOTE:  We write this as employees of the Arizona university system, because it is about an issue that affects our work conditions. Our number one charge is to teach and care for our students, and that’s what this statement is about.   It is not a political statement, which is why we are comfortable making it as employees of the state.

STATEMENT

We speak as members of the higher education communities of the state of Arizona, to ask that our institutions of higher education reaffirm their commitment to diversity and inclusion by ensuring the safety and security of all our students, and specifically DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) students enrolled in Arizona community colleges and state universities.  Access to education is a basic human right (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26), a social good, as well as an economic engine, as recognized in the Arizona State Constitution (Article 11 Section 6).

With inauguration of a new administration there is legitimate concern that protections afforded DACA students under executive order could end.  Students who have spent most of their lives in the United States and have been educated in our schools and classrooms are facing the real possibility that all this may be cut out from under them.  It is important to express public support for DACA students and their families. These are our friends with whom we have learned and continue to learn together.

We feel it is important to the state of Arizona to do everything it can to make sure our students, the students we have invested in from K-12, have every opportunity to succeed in higher education.  In order to do that, we ask that the Regents find a pathway forward that allows the state to continue to extend all existing benefits to the current DACA students. 

The argument for protecting the existing benefits for DACA students is well expressed by the new ACHIEVE60AZ Alliance. The alliance notes that benefits to the state are considerable if educational attainment is increased, with each college graduate expected to contribute $660,000 to the state’s economic growth, according to a report by College Success Arizona. Increasing the number of DACA students and undocumented people enrolled in post-secondary institutions would improve their individual quality of life and provide the state of Arizona with $2.3 billion in social benefits over the lifetime of each graduating class, according to the report.  One example -- cutting-edge skills training not only boosts our students’ individual earning potential, but also elevates the competitive strength and economic vitality of the region by adding an estimated $6.3 billion in new revenue.

This is a situation where doing the right thing is also doing the smart thing.  Our students, our families, our communities, deserve our support and sustenance, as well as yours.   We ask the Regents to do everything in their collective power to make sure that we do right by them.

Signed By