Read Dean Kevin R. Johnson`s essay in Hispanic Outlook in Higher

VOLUME 26 • NUMBER 3
DECEMBER 14, 2015
The
Electoral
Process
THE FUTURE OF
HIGHER EDUCATION
IN THE US
WWW.HISPANICOUTLOOK.COM
THE HISPANIC OUTLOOK IN HIGHER EDUCATION MAGAZINE
DECEMBER 14, 2015
Table of
CONTENTS
3
10
KALEIDOSCOPE
The Pope and Junipero Serra
by Carlos D. Conde
HISPANIC GAINS DESPITE LAW SCHOOL ENROLLMENT
DROP
With fewer students attending law school than ever before, Hispanics are in a
prime position to receive a law degree
by Michelle Adam
10
TOP
25
14
One involves mentoring at-risk middle school students and the other focuses
on sealing juvenile offenders’ records
by Gary M. Stern
18
28
8 • December 14, 2015
27
THE ELECTORAL PROCESS AND THE FUTURE OF HIGHER
EDUCATION IN THE US
Public universities have to find and secure the means to meet enormous
demand in order to maintain a diverse student body
by Dr. Priscilla Gac-Artigas
LAW
SCHOOLS
24
THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON LAW SCHOOL LAUNCHES
TWO INNOVATIVE LEGAL PROGRAMS
24
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA CENTER SERVES A
VULNERABLE STUDENT POPULATION
UC unveils its Undocumented Legal Services Center
by Kevin R. Johnson
27
TOP 25 SCHOOLS FOR HISPANIC LAW PROFESSIONALS
28
SCHOLAR’S CORNER
29
OWN IT!
30
TARGETING HIGHER EDUCATION
These schools grant the most law degrees and certificates to Hispanics
by Edwin Hernandez, Doctoral Candidate Social Science and Comparative
Education, University of California, Los Angeles, 2015 Graduate Fellow
The Latino Entrepreneur Must Choose Wisely
by Marvin F. Lozano, Ed.D. and Miquela Rivera, Ph.D.
The Law: A Career Opportunity for Hispanics?
by Gustavo A. Mellander
New UC Center
Serves a Most Vulnerable Student Population:
A NEW TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION?
Written by
Kevin R. Johnson
Undocumented Legal Services Center staff members meet to discuss cases: Legal
Fellow David Gomez, Legal Fellow Desiree Fairly, and Executive Director María Blanco
O
ver the last year, the University of California has been
constructing a form of student services never before seen in
higher education. In building the
University of California Undocumented Legal Services Center, UC
is demonstrating how it truly can be
on the cutting edge in serving students and the greater community.
Announced last November by
the UC President Janet Napolitano,
the new center has already begun
24 • December 14, 2015
serving the unique legal needs of
undocumented students. Housed at
the UC Davis School of Law, home
of a well-established Immigration
Law Clinic and leading immigration law scholars, the center serves
undocumented students and their
families on UC campuses without a
law school. The campuses – Merced,
Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco,
Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz – are
spread throughout the Golden State.
The student need is clear. Many
of them are eligible for deferred action or other types of immigration
relief that stabilizes their daily lives
and, as a result, helps to improve
their academic success. The idea behind extending services to the families of undocumented UC students
involves a well-researched phenomenon: students are in a better position
to excel in their studies if their families are not at risk of removal.
Launching the center was a tremendous undertaking. Any project
“Many students
want to regularize
their immigration
status, so they
might be able to
leave and return
to the U.S. as
required by study
abroad programs
just like many
other college
students are
encouraged to do
(and, in fact, do).”
spanning across UC campuses raises
many questions and logistical and related concerns. The largest unknown
was of critical importance: how
many undocumented students were
attending the various UC campuses?
The Office of the President made efforts to estimate the undocumented
population on each UC campus, but
it remained uncertain what the size
of the population needing legal services would be.
We now know the answer: several hundred undocumented students
are enrolled at each of the campuses
of the University of California, despite many financial and other barriers. While many of them are from
Mexico or Central America, there are
María Blanco, Executive Director of the Undocumented Legal Services Center
undocumented UC students literally
from around the world, including
Asia, Africa and Europe.
UC Davis served as an important model for the new endeavor. Previously, the UC Davis Immigration
Law Clinic had worked with the UC
Davis AB 540 Center – named after
the legislative bill allowing undocumented students to pay the same
tuition and fees as other California
residents – to provide legal assistance to undocumented UC Davis
students. This single-campus experience offered helpful lessons in creating the new center to serve multiple
campuses.
Another question was who
would lead the center. Who had the
credibility and skill set to establish a
legal services center like none other ever seen in a university system?
María Blanco, a noted civil rights
and immigrant rights advocate, was
willing to bring a wealth of experience, as well as a sterling reputation
in the immigrant rights community,
as the inaugural director.
Blanco proceeded to hire several
immigration attorneys, including a
number of recent law graduates with
experience working with immigrant
communities and conversant in languages other than English. In short
order, she pulled together a highly
qualified team to work with diverse
populations spread out on campuses
throughout California.
www.HispanicOutlook.com • 25
“Some students
are eligible not
to be deported
but need legal
assistance to
identify and
collect the
information
necessary to make
their case.”
But before they could serve students, the attorneys had to deal with
a characteristic of the University of
California campuses that many of
those who have worked with UC
have experienced. The campuses
in the UC system are diverse with
very different institutions, structures, student needs and concerns
and cultures and cultural traditions.
The attorneys had to navigate the
different campus cultures, finding
out the people and institutional
structures that allow them to most
effectively access the undocumented
student population on that campus
and build the trust necessary to effectively represent the students. The
navigating of various campuses and
their specific cultures continues to
be a challenging and time consuming but necessary exercise.
The attorneys are reaching out
to students and leadership on the
various campuses to build relation26 • December 14, 2015
ships and trust. The collaboration is
helping to create support and recognition for the very specific needs
of a growing portion of the undergraduate and graduate UC student
body. In fact, a summit held in April
brought UC students, staff and faculty together in Oakland to discuss
the issues facing undocumented students: financial, legal, educational
and cultural, among others.
The nature of the work has been
a surprise. Attorneys initially expected to focus on assisting students
with applications for relief under the
Obama administration’s Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was originally created
in 2012. The expanded deferred action program, announced in 2014
but delayed by litigation, also was
thought to be likely work for the
center and its attorneys.
As it turns out, the legal work
has been far more varied than anticipated. Some students and their
family members are eligible for a
variety of immigrant visas as well as
citizenship. Many students want to
regularize their immigration status,
so they might be able to leave and return to the U.S. as required by study
abroad programs just like many other college students are encouraged to
do (and, in fact, do). Some students
are eligible not to be deported but
need legal assistance to identify and
collect the information necessary to
make their case.
These students have demonstrated a widespread and profound hunger for legal immigration assistance.
The cost of seeking quality legal help
was preventing them and their families from obtaining services to help
them integrate. As of today, the cen-
ter has served more than a hundred
students. This number will grow as
the program grows in reputation and
word of its services spreads.
Some students and funders have
expressed concern that the university
may not maintain funding and that
the center could be short-lived. In
recognition of those concerns, President Napolitano extended the funding for a total of three years.
The UC Undocumented Legal
Services Center remains a work in
progress, but its efforts are paying
off in immeasurable ways for undocumented students. The University of
California should be proud of this
innovative program that promotes
inclusion and helps to protect some
of its most vulnerable students. •
Kevin R. Johnson is the Dean of the University of
California, Davis, School of Law and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o
Studies.