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Page A2 • April 25, 2013 • Inland Empire Community Newspapers • El Chicano
Forum cont. from front
to discuss the vital issue of immigration reform, and to generate
thought-provoking conversation
that students, faculty, staff and the
community will continue well
after this event," said CSUSB
President Tomas D. Morales. "It's
important to hold this forum so
that people better understand the
issues of immigration in our global
economy."
The panelists included Dr. John
Husing, Inland Empire Economist;
Mike Gallo, president and CEO of
Kelly Space and Technology; Elsa
Valdez, professor College of Social and Behavioral Sciences; Dr.
Enrique Murillo, professor College
of Education; Olivia Rosas, associate vice president enrollment
services; Roseanna Ruiz, director
financial aid; Aaron Jimenez, former CSUSB ASI president/current
CSSA Chair; Kristen Ramos, student; Provost Andy Bodman, moderator.
Each panelist provided their own
unique perspective on the subject
both from professional and personal experience. While space
does not allow for inclusion of all
commentary by each panelist, the
following is a brief summary of
some of the comments. And while
the subject was on economics, education played a big role in the discussion as it pertains to economics.
Dr. Enrique Murillo spoke on the
need for education to be viewed as
a right and not a privilege and that
it should be considered an investment.
“In light of looking at education
as both a right and an investment,
what we are really discussing are
the shortcomings in the American
immigration policy regime and the
higher education opportunities for
immigrant students,” he said. “The
backdrop or context is our lat capitalist American economy that relies on immigrant labor while
simultaneously refuting immigrant
students academic achievements
made possible from the opportunities their same family’s labor provided.”
Murillo said that a discussion on
reform must include: addressing
the millions of students and young
adults who were brought to the
Untied States as children by their
parents, preserving family unity
and creating “a realistic path to citizenship for aspiring citizens who
call America home.”
According to Roseanna Ruiz, director of financial aid at CSUSB,
many undocumented students and
their parents use their “off the
books” incomes to help finance
college expenses, as they don’t
qualify for federal aid.
At the campus level, the financial
aid office works with the California Student Aid Commissions to
conduct Cash 4 College workshops on and off campus and in
English and in Spanish. The workshops provide information and
guidance to parents and students
on the various forms of financial
aid.
The financial aid office is also
open to current and prospective
students and parents who require
information and assistance in the
process and several staff members
are bilingual. According to Ruiz,
there are 75 Dream Grant recipients in the 2012-13 school year.
PHOTOS/CYNTHIA MENDOZA
San Manuel Chairwoman Carla Rodriguez was the second
keynote speaker at the Native American Student Recognition
Dinner on Monday, April 19. “We had to acknowledge that you
bring new strength to or people through education,” she told graduates.
Native cont. from front
support the learning and success
of the graduates and to encourage
them to keep moving forward to
new heights of success.
“This event grew out of a conversation between a Cal State student and resource center staff
member over ways to encourage
more Native students to graduate,”
said Cheryl Girdner, councilor
with the San Bernardino based Native American Resources Center.
“By partnering with San Manuel,
Cal State San Bernardino, University of Redlands, and San
Bernardino City Schools, we have
continued into our second year
bringing even more graduates this
year to the San Manuel reservation.”
Native American students face
many challenges that are unique to
them both academically and socially. According to one of the
keynote speakers, former San
Manuel Chairman Deron Mar-
This means that undocumented
students are exempt from paying
out of state tuition and they are eligible for state financial aid. At
this time undocumented students
are not eligible for federal aid.
Some of the challenges faced by
financial aid offices in regards to
serving undocumented students,
however, is that often the information provided by the student and/or
their families may be incomplete,
insufficient or unclear. This lack of
information is often due to fear of
exposure of their undocumented
status or fear of deportation.
This aspect of the conversation
also brought up the point that the
system as a whole tends to be very
bureaucratic and cold, so that even
if staff members are understanding
and helpful to undocumented students, the system itself does not
lend itself to being more friendly
and open.
Student Kristin Ramos also
shared study findings on the psychological impact undocumented
status can have on students, ranging from self-esteem and self-perception issues on the negative side,
but on the positive, creating a spirit
of resilience. The question raised
at this point was, “do we really
want students to be resilient because of the negative impacts?”
This forum was one of many
going on in recent weeks on college and university campuses nationwide as part of the National
Higher Education Conversation on
Immigration Reform, which is
being organized by the Partnership
for a New American Economy.
quez, the average graduation rate
of high school seniors nationwide
is 69%. Amongst Native American
students that rate is 51%.
“You are already among an elite
group,” Marquez told the high
school graduates. “That’s something to be proud of.
Marquez also advised the high
school students to reach out and
engage their college professors
and reach out to successful mentors and family for ongoing support.
“If we’re going to change the epidemic of Native Americans not
graduating, if we’re going to break
the chains, it starts with us,” he
said.
San Manuel’s support of Native
American education dates back to
the 1970s when tribal elders began
offering educational presentations
at Inland Empire schools. The
tribe’s efforts led to the founding
of the Title VII Indian Education
grant that has served hundreds of
students in San Bernardino City
Unified School District each year
for the past 25 years. Today, with
more than 70 percent of program
students
graduating,
San
Bernardino City Schools exceeds
the statewide average for this population.
As part of Title VII, Native
American students receive academic and social support while
members of the San Manuel tribe
conduct presentations and host
events to educate the community
about Native American history and
culture. Title VII also provides assistance for the training of Indian
individuals as educators, counselors and other professions serving Indian people.
The highlight of the celebration,
which drew about 300 people, included a presentation of tribal
blankets that was wrapped around
students and their families, symbolizing their collective journey
along the path of education.
PHOTOS/CYNTHIA MENDOZA
“As an educator, a professor in the ‘business’ of higher education, I believe students should be made to feel welcome and safe
regardless of where they were born,” said CSUSB Professor Enrique Murillo.
PHOTOS/CYNTHIA MENDOZA
Dr. Elsa Valdez, professor the College of Social and Behavioral
Sciences at CSUSB was one of several community panelists at
an immigration reform forum on Friday, April 19 at CSUSB.
PHOTOS/CYNTHIA MENDOZA
Former San Manuel Chairman Deron Marquez was one of the
keynote speakers at the Native American Student Recognition
Dinner at San Manuel on Monday, April 19. The celebration honors high school and college graduating Native American students. Marquez encouraged high school graduates to reach out
and engage their college professors.