It was back in March of 2011 that I provided testimony in support of Senate Bill 742, the “Tuition Equity Bill” which, if it had passed, would have provided all graduates of Oregon’s high schools with access to all of our state institutions of higher education at in-state tuition rates. Unfortunately, the 2011 Legislature chose not to pass that Bill and so hundreds upon hundreds of our young people continue to be denied the equal access they deserve and from which our communities would benefit. But that’s all, as they say “academic,” until you spend some intense time with one of those young people… And that’s where Javier* comes in.
Javier was one of the high school students on the raft I guided down the Deschutes River this past weekend. A wonderful young man of captivating charm and energizing spirit, a senior who will be graduating in another month, and a person of incredible potential that quite possibly neither he nor our communities will ever realize because he is an undocumented resident of our State. Javier came to the US when he was 5 years old, has worked hard to learn English and then to complete high school, has a job that he works equally hard at, and hopes someday to go to college, marry, have a family, and be a productive member of his community. He’s what every one of us should hope for in our students… and I was immediately taken in by him.
At the end of our trip down the river together, Javier went out of his way to tell me how much he appreciated our time together… and to give me the biggest hug. I teared up, partially because of his heart-felt expression of affection, but also because I know how hard it will be for him to achieve all that he dreams of.
The “Tuition Equity Bill” is sure to be reintroduced for the 2013 Legislative Session, and I am hopeful that this time we will do this one thing to help make Javier’s chances a little better.
*Note: “Javier” is not this young man’s real name, and I have chosen to use a pseudonym so as not to risk the chance of making his path even harder.
Thank you for keeping an open mind and open heart while listening to Javier’s testimonial, Greg. Often students that find themselves in this predicament serve as examples of inspiration, optimism, and perseverance—the epitome of the American Dream. Unfortunately, thousands of students like Javier—approximately 64,000 nationally—are left without a real sustainable path to completing their education through college. Here’s to getting the tuition equity movement going again that will open the door a little wider so as to invite more students to our colleges and universities.
ReplyDeleteI've always had mixed feelings about this subject. While I sympathize with the young man and his struggles in achieving his goals, the fact remains that he and his family are here in this country illegally (which "undocumented" tends to gloss over).
ReplyDeleteMy mom and her family came here legally in the early 1950's. I went to the post office every January 2 with my mom and watched her re-register as a legal alien. Every year, without fail, no matter what else was going on in our lives, my mom stood in line to follow the laws of the country she chose to live in. I helped her study for her citizenship classes and test, and she was sworn a US citizen in 1979.
Perhaps the "Tuition Equity Bill" movement would better serve us all if we took care of our own citizens first. There are many, many bright people among the poorest of us that never get a chance to break out of the cycles of poverty their families experience. Why should they be excluded?
One set of my grandparents immigrated to the U.S. in the 1920s. One thing I learned from contact with people who had that experience is that, from a systems standpoint at least, we used to be more welcoming of people seeking opportunity in the U.S. While there was still prejudice against "foreigners," there was also a more widely available process to enter the country legally because we needed the people.
ReplyDeleteWe still need the people. People like Javier’s parents would not be here if there wasn’t opportunity (and need) for them to be. Yet we throw up systemic barriers to them that previous generations of immigrants did not face to score political points for “controlling our borders.” In a perfect world, we’d be able to change that. In our imperfect world, we can at least mitigate that problem politically by making sure we aren’t limiting ourselves by denying educational access to people who can make our communities and our country better through the power of education. Education is for the common good. In supporting education -- for whoever can benefit from it -- we support ourselves and our communities.