Presidents Urge Support for Undocumented Students
More than 90 college and university presidents signed the below statement, dated Nov. 21, 2016, calling for the continuation and expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, under which more than 700,000 young people who were brought to the U.S. as children have registered with the federal government in exchange for temporary relief from the possibility of deportation and a two-year renewable work permit.
The core mission of higher education is the advancement of knowledge, people and society. As educational leaders, we are committed to upholding free inquiry and education in our colleges and universities, and to providing the opportunity for all our students to pursue their learning and life goals.
Since the advent of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012, we have seen the critical benefits of this program for our students, and the highly positive impacts on our institutions and communities. DACA beneficiaries on our campuses have been exemplary student scholars and student leaders, working across campus and in the community. With DACA, our students and alumni have been able to pursue opportunities in business, education, high tech and the nonprofit sector; they have gone to medical school, law school and graduate schools in numerous disciplines. They are actively contributing to their local communities and economies.
To our country’s leaders, we say that DACA should be upheld, continued and expanded. We are prepared to meet with you to present our case. This 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.
We call on our colleagues and other leaders across the business, civic, religious and nonprofit sectors to join with us in this urgent matter.
Presidents and Chancellors Who Signed (alphabetical by institution)
James Mullen, Allegheny College
Jeff Abernathy, Alma College
Biddy Martin, Amherst College
Paul Pribbenow, Augsburg College
Leon Botstein, Bard College
Debora Spar, Barnard College
Clayton Spencer, Bates College
Mariko Silver, Bennington College
Clayton Rose, Bowdoin College
Christina Paxson '82, Brown University
Kimberly Cassidy '85, Bryn Mawr College
Steven Lavine, California Institute of the Arts
Chris Kimball, California Lutheran University
Mildred García, California State University, Fullerton
Barbara Snyder, Case Western Reserve University
Brian Casey, Colgate University
Sarah Bolton, College of Wooster
Katherine Bergeron, Connecticut College
Yves Salomon-Fernandez, Cumberland County College
Phil Hanlon, Dartmouth College
Carol Quillen, Davidson College
Claire Sterk, Emory University
Daniel Porterfield, Franklin & Marshall College
Elizabeth Davis, Furman University
John J. DeGioia, Georgetown University
Janet Morgan Riggs, Gettysburg College
Jose Antonio Bowen, Goucher College
Raynard Kington, Grinnell College
David Wippman, Hamilton College
Drew Faust, Harvard University
James Troha, Juniata College
Sean Decatur '90, Kenyon College
Teresa Amott, Knox College
Randal Wisbey, La Sierra University
Jonathan Burke, Laguna College of Art and Design
Barry Glassner, Lewis & Clark College
Timothy Law Snyder, Loyola Marymount University
Brian Linnane, S.J., Loyola University Maryland
Brian Rosenberg, Macalester College
Lucas Lamadrid, Marymount California University
Richard Moran, Menlo College
Laurie Patton, Middlebury College
Beth Hillman, Mills College
Sonya Stephens, Mount Holyoke College
Morton Schapiro, Northwestern University
Judith Maxwell Greig, Notre Dame de Namur University
Marvin Krislov, Oberlin College
Jonathan Veitch, Occidental College
Lawrence Schall '75, Oglethorpe University
Michael Sorrell, Paul Quinn College
Eric Barron, Pennsylvania State University
Melvin L. Oliver, Pitzer College
David Oxtoby, Pomona College
Christopher Eisgruber, Princeton University
John Kroger, Reed College
David Leebron, Rice University
Eugene Cornacchia, Saint Peter's University
Michael Engh, Santa Clara University
Karen Lawrence, Sarah Lawrence College
Lara Tiedens, Scripps College
Kathleen McCartney, Smith College
Edward B. Burger, Southwestern University
Satish K. Tripathi, State University of New York at Buffalo
Samuel Stanley, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Valerie Smith, Swarthmore College
Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Trinity College
Danny Anderson, Trinity University
Anthony Monaco, Tufts University
Ralph Hexter, University of California, Davis
Howard Gillman, University of California, Irvine
Pradeep Khosla, University of California, San Diego
Michael A. Olivas, University of Houston Downtown
Bernadette Gray-Little, University of Kansas
Devorah Lieberman, University of La Verne
Wallace Loh, University of Maryland, College Park
Mark Schlissel, University of Michigan
Amy Gutmann, University of Pennsylvania
Isiaah Crawford, University of Puget Sound
Ralph Kuncl, University of Redlands
James Harris, University of San Diego
Paul Fitzgerald, University of San Francisco
Denise Doyle, University of the Incarnate Word
Pamela Eibeck, University of the Pacific
Stephen Morgan, University of the West
Jonathan Chenette, Vassar College
Tori Haring-Smith '74, Washington & Jefferson College
Kenneth Ruscio, Washington and Lee University
Paula Johnson, Wellesley College
Michael Roth, Wesleyan University
Sharon Herzberger, Whittier College
Stephen Thorsett, Willamette University
Adam Falk, Williams College
Peter Salovey, Yale University
