WITHOUT question, access to a higher education is of the utmost value in this country. This is true not only for those students who choose to participate in it, but for the nation as a whole. In a recent speech at the Miller Center of Public Affairs, University President Teresa A. Sullivan claimed that institutions like the University play a vital role in jump-starting the economy. They offer avenues in research and innovation at a time when "university-based inventions contributed $450 billion to U.S. gross industrial output and created 280,000 new high-tech jobs between 1999 and 2007," according to a survey by the Association of American Universities.
Higher education prepares the next generation of thinkers, businesspeople, architects, educators and the like to take on the problems that do not even exist in our country just yet. It is unfortunate, however, that many children in this country cannot even dream of accessing such an education. There is an opportunity gap in this country, and it is defined not only by socioeconomic lines but also by legal lines.
Nearly a year has passed since Congress last voted on the U.S. Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors or DREAM Act. The DREAM Act, first brought to the Senate on August 1, 2001 and reintroduced in several forms since then, would have given undocumented students the opportunity to either attend a U.S. college or enlist in the U.S. military.
Ever since the 1982 Supreme Court case Plyer v. Doe, undocumented students have been given the opportunity to attend K-12 public schools throughout the country. A problem arises, though, when these students graduate high school and wish to attend college. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, as well as many individual state statutes, bar these students from scholarships, financial aid and even enrollment in public universities.
The DREAM Act would have opened up the doors for undocumented K-12 students to come to places like the University, particularly when so many of these children were brought to the United States without any choice in the matter. As a Cavalier Daily article, "Living the DREAM" (December 3, 2010) put it, "The United States is the only home they have ever known."
Next month also marks the anniversary of the "Dare to DREAM Campaign," a student movement at the University. In October 2010, after groups at both public and private universities - from the University of California, Los Angeles to Harvard University - came out in support of the DREAM Act, the Latino Student Alliance sought to build a movement of support at the University, and gain public endorsement of the Act by the University administration.
Throughout October and November 2010, the Latino Student Alliance, with the help of groups such as the Living Wage Campaign, held a silent march in support of the Act, and led a petition drive which gained the support of 2,600 University students.
On Nov. 16, I was glad to cosponsor a Student Council bill in support of the DREAM Act in my capacity as vice president for organizations. I am more than happy to continue being a part of this movement today with the Minority Rights Coalition. Though the DREAM Act failed to pass a Senate vote in December 2010, the issue of closing the opportunity gap for undocumented students in this country remains just as significant today.
On Monday, Oct. 3, at 7:00 PM in 101 Nau Hall, the Latino Student Alliance is hosting a forum, "Still DREAMing" in cosponsorship with the Minority Rights Coalition and 10 other student organizations. The event will include a panel of undocumented high school students from the local Southwood Community who would benefit from the DREAM Act, as well as Tim Freilich, an immigrant advocacy lawyer at the Legal Aid Justice Center in Charlottesville. Whether you agree or disagree with comprehensive immigration reform along the lines of the DREAM Act, I still encourage you to attend and bring your thoughts and opinions to the event.
Evan Shields is the chair of the Minority Rights Coalition.
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