A call to action
By Isabella Szabolcs, guest columnist. Dec. 19, 2013 @ 03:45 PM
Open your eyes to the diverse community around you. Think about the students who have grown up with you. Listen to those who have studied beside you. According to Educators for Fair Consideration, a non-partisan and non-profit organization, 65,000 undocumented youth are calling for help each year. Their dreams are being crushed.
Undocumented students need in-state tuition and financial aid to go to college and Duke can make a difference.
Imagine yourself, as you are today, an American who knows no other home than this country. Yet when all of those around you are applying to college, you face the reality of being undocumented; a nine-digit number is holding your future hostage.
Most of us have never lived below the poverty line. We’ve never experienced the pressure of hiding our identity, drudging through our studies and simultaneously working a job to support our families. We’ve never been terrified by the legal consequences of making a wrong turn while driving or lived in fear of deportation risking the involuntary separation of our family.
As Duke students, our acceptance into this university was our reward for the hard work we put in throughout secondary school. Having access to higher education was never a question, it is a right that many times we take for granted. It is a right that undocumented students, too, deserve.
“What I really would like to see happen is for people not to label us by numbers but instead look into our value as human beings and get to know the more humane, personal part…I want to open eyes to people who are oblivious to our situation, says Marco, an undocumented Duke guest student.
As reported by Slate magazine, our state has an estimated undocumented population of 3.5 percent, one of the highest in the United States, yet these youth are required to pay out-of-state tuition. In-state tuition can only be granted to them if the General Assembly makes a change in state law.
Even though universities do not have the authority to change state law, Duke can still remove the obstacles it imposes on undocumented applicants. According to Duke’s dean of undergraduate admissions, Christoph Guttentag, undocumented students are treated like international students — their applications are “need-aware” rather than “need-blind”. Because Duke has to use its own funds rather than government funds to support them, the admission’s rate of undocumented students and other non-US citizens is a marginal 3.5 percent, as mentioned by Duke’s independent newspaper, The Chronicle, in 2010. Thus, few affordable opportunities exist for them to take classes at Duke. Their only hope is as semester guest students through the Two-Way Bridges program in Duke’s Humanities Writ Large initiative. This is not enough. Duke needs to and can make more of a difference.
Sandro, an undocumented Duke guest student, cannot apply to our university without his application being “need-aware.” He describes how his economic situation bars him from being able to pursue an education he has earned through hard work. “Every [undocumented student] who wants to get a higher education would love to go to college. But the money is the obstacle. Some have the money go to college, but most of us have to work to help our family and help ourselves.”
How can Duke make a difference?
Duke can fund internships and provide more merit-based scholarships that provide direct financial aid to undocumented students. In addition, President Ricahrd Brodhead has the power to voice his opinion on tuition equity. By speaking with our legislature and the UNC board of governors and showing his support for undocumented youth (if that is his stance), Brodhead could influence thousands of lives.
How can Duke Students make a difference?
I encourage Duke students to create advocacy organizations that endorse The Dream Act and in-state tuition and state-based financial aid in North Carolina. We have the opportunity to support community-based service organizations that help undocumented students such as NC Dream Team. In addition, we can sign the NC Petition for in-state tuition. Students can call Attorney General Roy Cooper and UNC Board Of Governors, Chairman Peter Hans and urge them to voice their opinions on in-state tuition and state-based financial aid for undocumented students. We also have the ability to write to our legislatures and explain why this change in our state-law is necessary. Lastly, we can write to our senators pressing them to co-sponsor the Dream Act.
We need to take the future into our own hands and fight against this injustice; “to remain silent on this matter is to deny these students equal access to education and to stand on the wrong side of history!” — NC Dream Team.
Duke cannot continue to hinder students from obtaining its education because of their identities and backgrounds. We need to stop stigmatizing undocumented students and listen to their plea for help. We must take action and fight for in-state tuition and financial aid for undocumented students.
Isabella Szabolcs is a senior at Duke University.
HERALD SUN. December 17, 2013
"About 300 people attended Duke;s opening reception at the
beginning of the month for its new multimedia exhibit,
"Two Way Bridges: Connecting Duke, Durham and the Americas
/ Puentes de Doble Via: Conectando Duke, Durham y las Americas"...
DUKE TODAY. December 17, 2013
Service-learning courses at Duke involve students in meaningful community-based
projects related to academic subject matter, and push them to reflect on the ethical
and civic dimensions of community engagement. These images depict some of the
variety, depth and impact of this fall's service-learning experiences.
Pictured above, local high school student Alma Perez examines a
mural at the exhibit opening for Two Way Bridges/Puentes de Dobla Via,
a project sponsored by Humanities Writ Large involving multiple
service-learning courses, culture-language-media workshops, a
group documentary conducted by artists from the Latino community,
and partnerships between Duke students and local high school and
community college students. The exhibit, which contains murals,
paintings, video, photography, and other collaborative work
celebrating bridges between Duke and the broader Latino community,
will be on display in the Frederic Jameson Gallery in the
Friedl building Monday-Thursday 10am-4pm through December 18,
and again January 6-to February 28.
Inocente shares life, art. Sep. 14, 2013
By Susan Broili. Herald Sun
The joy of living in her own place after years of homelessness
came across when artist Inocente (Izucar) spoke by phone recently.
“It’s been great having a place of my own,” she said. For about a
year, she’s been in the small apartment she shares with pet
“bunnies” Lunar and Bun-Bun. At 19, her life as an artist got a
real boost earlier this year when “Inocente,” a documentary about
her, won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short. She had tears in
her eyes when she joined the film’s directors, Sean Fine and
Andrea Nix Fine, onstage for the award presentation.
see article HERE
Documentary subject Inocente Izucar discusses homelessness, art. September 17, 2013
By Kirby Wilson. The Chronicle
From the streets of San Diego to Duke University’s campus,
Inocente Izucar is sharing her story of redemption, family and
art.
“Inocente”—the Academy Award-winning documentary short film about
Izucar’s life directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine—was
screened Monday evening in White Lecture hall to a capacity
crowd of students, faculty and local community members.
see article HERE
Inocente to speak at documentary film screening. September 12, 2013
By Minshu Deng. The Chronicle
Most of us take the time to watch the movies that win Best Picture
at the Academy Awards, or at least we’re familiar with the film
titles. Many of us might even watch the cute Best Animated Short
as it circulates on social media. But how many of us have taken
the time to look into the Best Documentary Short?
see article HERE
Mural to celebrate Durham Latino community: Painting a collaborative
project with Duke. Oct. 27, 2013
Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan. The Herald Sun
In downtown Durham Sunday under a vivid blue sky, more color was
being added to the view.
A collaborative mural project is underway on the side of Torero’s
Mexican Restaurant and Lounge at West Main and North Duke streets. The mural is a project of Two-Way Bridges at Duke University,
and funded by a Humanities Writ Large grant. Two-Way Bridges
seeks to bridge the communities of Duke and the Latino community
in Durham and beyond. When completed this week, the mural will
feature two arms grasping each other, a train, agricultural
workers and an image of a Latino youth on the two-story brick
wall on the Duke Street side of the building.
Torero’s is a central place that Latinos and non-Latinos enjoy,
said Miguel Rojas of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean
Studies at Duke and adjunct instructor in Latin American Studies.
He is one of several instructors participating in the project
and also inviting local Latino students into their classes at
Duke.
see the article HERE
Painting a cultural bridge. Oct. 28, 2013
Op/Ed. The Herald Sun
While the rate of growth of the Hispanic and Latino population here has slowed a bit,
the change in the past two decades has been striking.
Today, roughly one in seven people in Durham is Hispanic,
according to the U. S. Census Bureau – and the census data
probably undercounts the demographic group. As recently as 1990,
Hispanics accounted for barely 1 percent of our population.
see article HERE
Pintan mural por los latinos en Durham. 31 Octubre 2013
Written by Eloy Tupayachi. Que Pasa
Durham.- Un grupo de artistas, profesores y estudiantes empezaron
a pintar un mural para testimoniar la presencia de los inmigrante
s latinos en Durham.
El mural se encuentra ubicado en la esquina de las calles W. Main St. y Duke, en la
fachada del restaurante mexicano Toreros, donde el pasado sábado comenzó a
pintarse bajo el liderazgo del artista Cornelio Campos.
El proyecto, que forma parte del plan “Puentes de dos vías”, que
busca interconectar y retroalimentar a los latinos con la
comunidad en general, fue una idea de tres profesores de la
Universidad de Duke, Charles Thomson, Miguel Rojas-Sotelo y
Bethzaida Fernandez.
see article HERE
Mural de esperanzas, sueños e inmigrantes. 13 November 2013
Written by Juan Fuentes. La Conexion
DURHAM- La ciudad de Durham tiene más color gracias a un mural
que celebra la cultura latina, trabajo desarrollado por el Centro
de Estudios Latinoamericanos y Caribeños de la Universidad Duke.
Esta obra de arte se encuentra en Brightleaf Square entre las
calles West Main y North Duke. Son dos manos unidas de la muñeca
(una de color negro y otra blanca), a la derecha está situado un
tren y a la izquierda dos jóvenes. Encima, un par de ojos observa
lo que ocurre. “Las manos representan la tensión que la comunidad
hispana está enfrentando con migración. El tren es la ‘Gran
Bestia’ en el que algunos de nuestros hermanos llegan a los
Estados Unidos. Los jóvenes ilustran el futuro de este país y
sus sueños. Todo está siendo observado por unos ojos, que
simboliza a una persona recién llegada a este país”, dijo a
La Conexión Miguel Rojas Sotelo, profesor de Estudios
Latinoamericanos en Duke.
see article HERE
