Dear Members of the Kent State University Community:
The White House announcement to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, has raised concerns among students and their families — including the Kent State family. The DACA program has provided a path to citizenship for approximately 800,000 undocumented young people, who came to the United States with their parents as small children. These hard-working young people in the DACA program are the living embodiment of the American dream and include students who have enriched our communities.
Kent State University will do everything we can to support the DACA students who call our campuses home, and we will strongly advocate for their continued inclusion in our communities. We are committed to all students who look to our university for an education — their foundation — for making a positive impact on the world.
To that end, yesterday I joined with the presidents of all Ohio state universities to call on the U.S. Congress to find a bipartisan, legislative, permanent solution to this immigration issue. Such a solution must include allowing these students to continue their studies at our institutions.
Kent State University previously partnered with other Ohio higher education institutions to support the BRIDGE Act, which was introduced in the last Congress and would have alleviated the immediate concerns regarding student status while our nation continued to pursue a long-term solution to immigration reform. While the BRIDGE Act Bill will likely not remain in its current form, we are working with members of Congress who are considering similar legislation to provide students with work authorization and a provisional protected status from deportation.
These DACA students have grown up in our communities, embrace American values and strive to become contributing members of our society. Our communities benefit greatly from their creativity, hard work and diverse perspectives. Creating a path for them to stay here legally is the wise and humane thing to do.
In closing, let me reaffirm Kent State's commitment to an environment where all can find a supportive home — a place where we all can discover our passions and our purpose in life.
Nurturing an inclusive community is engrained in our values and will continue to define who we are — a community of thinkers, doers and, yes, dreamers, dedicated to playing a vital role in this global society. The leadership of Kent State University remains firmly committed to this ideal.
With best regards,
Beverly Warren
President
Kent State University