SGA Update - Senators vote to officially support the D.R.E.A.M. Act

At its April 27 meeting, the Student Government Association (SGA) voted to approve the resolution submitted by Vincent Recca ’12 to officially support the passage of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (D.R.E.A.M.) Act at Middlebury College.

The D.R.E.A.M. Act is a proposed piece of federal legislation that would grant “conditional” status for six years to undocumented alien youth. Due to their immigration status, many such students currently struggle to obtain the necessary financial aid that would enable them to attend college.

The “conditional” status conferred upon undocumented alien youth would allow these youth to apply for student loans as well as other forms of financial aid, provided the youth arrive in the United States before age 16, live in the U.S. for a minimum of five years, obtain a high school degree or a G.E.D. and are between the ages of 12 and 35 at the time of the bill’s enactment.

The D.R.E.A.M. Act also stipulates that such youth may apply for Permanent Residency status. This will allow them to apply to become United States citizens, provided they graduate from a two-year community college, a four-year regular college or serve two years in the military. This Act will thus enable many of the approximately 65,000 undocumented alien youth who graduate from high school each year to attend college.

By voting to formally support the D.R.E.A.M. Act, the SGA also officially asks President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz and the Board of Trustees of the College to publicly support the passage of the act and lobby our elected representatives to do so as well.

Felipe Guevara ’12, co-president of the Distinguished Men of Color (DMC), stressed the importance of the SGA’s decision to formally support the act. Guevara told the SGA that Liebowitz has thus far been hesitant to support the act, but that the SGA’s declaration of support for the act may make Liebowitz more aware of student support for it at Middlebury. Support for the act is strong at Middlebury, where over 300 students have already signed a petition calling for Liebowitz’s public support.

The SGA felt that support of the D.R.E.A.M. Act is in line with the College’s mission, which emphasizes “the pursuit of knowledge unconstrained by national or disciplinary boundaries”.

In addition, many institutions of higher education, including the College Board, Harvard University and the University of California, have publicly supported and lobbied for the passage of the D.R.E.A.M. Act, and the SGA believes that it is time for Middlebury College to follow suit, based on the College’s mission statement and commitment to higher education.

Senator Ethan Schmertzler ’12 also proposed a resolution to open conversations with the judicial boards to discuss the transparency of the judicial process at Middlebury. The resolution passed by a very small margin (3-2), with ten Senators abstaining.

Next Sunday, Senator Tony Huynh ’13 will be giving a presentation on gender-neutral housing to address any questions about the process.

Huynh invited students interested in learning more about gender-neutral housing to attend the presentation, which will take place at the SGA meeting this coming Sunday, May 2.