Friday, April 13, 2012

Safe Spaces for DREAMers

A criticism of Safe Space (or Safe Zone) programs that has always gotten on my nerves is the question, "But why just the LGBTQ community? Don't we want our campus to be safe for all people?" Don't get me wrong, I don't disagree with the sentiment of the person asking me the question, though it does make me question how the speaker feels about programs explicitly focusing on the needs of LGBTQ students (or any other social identity group, for that matter). Yet it has also given me pause as to why I feel so strongly that Safe Space programs remain structured as they are and not be watered down.

The main purpose Safe Space and similar programs serve on a college campus is identifying faculty and staff--institutional representatives--to whom a student can disclose her, his, or zir sexual orientation and/or gender identity without concern about potential negative repercussions. While college campuses today seem to be pretty safe places for students to come out, they weren't always this way--and for some students, depending where they are in terms of understanding this identity, they still are not. This is a need that is particularly salient for the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning) community. Identity disclosure carries much risk, and a Safe Space type program provides a way to alleviate as much of this risk as possible.

Tuesday's #MSAchat discussed the topic of supporting undocumented students on campus, which, for me, recalled my previous professional position working in a multicultural affairs office at a community college. I worked at a college in Washington State, a state where undocumented students are not only allowed to attend public institutions of higher education, but can also do so at the same rate as their in-state resident peers. The state has determined these students should be considered state residents as well. About a dozen states around the nation have similar laws, including three which also provide access to state financial aid (CA, TX, and NM).

I was also our campus liaison with the College Success Foundation, one of the largest scholarship providers for low-income students in Washington State, who intentionally decided not to make US citizenship a requirement to access their scholarships. In fact, many scholarship providers in states which consider undocumented students to be state residents use "state residency" as a requirement rather than "US citizenship." As a result, our office supported quite a few undocumented students, and I in turn learned much about what life without "papers" can be like.

After attending a forum on the DREAM Act (legislation pending in Congress to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented youth who had no choice in immigrating to the US but face few choices upon finishing school) at the University of Washington, one of the groups at the forum gave us placards to place on office doors and windows which were meant to indicate that the person in this office supports DREAMers (undocumented students). It was in that moment, in seeing the parallel between this action and the placards provided graduates of Safe Space training programs, I then realized that I was working with another population for whom identity disclosure carried much risk--and immediately placed the placard in my office.

After that, I started to think about how we make it known to DREAMers that we are safe people on whom they can rely as they pursue their educational goals. I began wondering what it might take to start a Safe Space like program for undocumented students, and was able to find one example after a brief Google Search (California State University, Long Beach). I mentioned this in the #MSAchat, and am hoping to keep this conversation going through this blog post.

I challenge student affairs professionals to learn more about the issues facing undocumented students in higher education. (Check out the College Board's advocacy website on the DREAM Act for more info, especially a great publication by Dr. Roberto Gonzales on the experiences of undocumented students.) Ask yourself a few questions:

  • Do you know who undocumented students are at your institution? If not, why don't you? (I'm not suggesting we identify and label them--I'm suggesting there are reasons why professionals on our campus will be aware or not aware of their mere presence on campus.)
  • If so, do you know what support services are available to them, specifically focused on their need for discretion?
  • Are undocumented students allowed to attend college in your state?
  • What are your state laws regarding access to public higher education for DREAMers?

On this topic, I think I'll write a follow-up post regarding my choice to attend--and experience attending--NASPA in Phoenix. Many of you are aware that NASPA's decision to continue to hold the 2012 Annual Conference following passage of Arizona's Senate Bill 1070 faced immense controversy in the field, including a decision by many professionals to not attend the conference as a result. I wonder how other professionals have been processing that experience and how it informs the way our professional associations conduct business in the future.

Let's keep this conversation going--how will we move forward with a campaign for safe spaces on campus for DREAMers? How are we, as higher education professionals, advocating for passage of the federal DREAM Act?

Bryce
Follow me on Twitter: @BryceEHughes

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