Statement in Support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program and our Undocumented Immigrant Students
The core mission of higher education is the advancement of knowledge, people, and society. As educational leaders, we are committed to upholding free inquiry and education in our colleges and universities, and to providing the opportunity for all our students to pursue their learning and life goals.
Since the advent of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012, we have seen the critical benefits of this program for our students, and the highly positive impacts on our institutions and communities. DACA beneficiaries on our campuses have been exemplary student scholars and student leaders, working across campus and in the community. With DACA, our students and alumni have been able to pursue opportunities in business, education, high tech, and the non-profit sector; they have gone to medical school, law school, and graduate schools in numerous disciplines. They are actively contributing to their local communities and economies.
To our country’s leaders we say that DACA should be upheld, continued, and expanded. We are prepared to meet with you to present our case. This is both a moral imperative and a national necessity. America needs talent – and these students, who have been raised and educated in the United States, are already part of our national community. They represent what is best about America, and as scholars and leaders they are essential to the future.
We call on our colleagues and other leaders across the business, civic, religious, and non-profit sectors to join with us in this urgent matter.
James Mullen
President, Allegheny College
Jeff Abernathy
President, Alma College
Biddy Martin
President, Amherst College
Paul Pribbenow
President, Augsburg College
Steven Bahls
President, Augustana College
Marjorie Hass
President, Austin College
Leon Botstein
President, Bard College
Debora Spar
President, Barnard College
Clayton Spencer
President, Bates College
Scott Bierman
President, Beloit College
Mariko Silver
President, Bennington College
Robert Brown
President, Boston University
Clayton Rose
President, Bowdoin College
Christina Paxson
President, Brown University
Kimberly Cassidy
President, Bryn Mawr College
Steven Lavine
President, California Institute of the Arts
Chris Kimball
President, California Lutheran University
Mildred García
President, California State University Fullerton
John Hurley
President, Canisius College
Barbara Snyder
President, Case Western Reserve University
Brian Casey
President, Colgate University
David Greene
President, Colby College
Sarah Bolton
President, College of Wooster
Katherine Bergeron
President, Connecticut College
Yves Salomon-Fernandez
President, Cumberland County College
Phil Hanlon
President, Dartmouth College
Carol Quillen
President, Davidson College
Claire Sterk
President, Emory University
Daniel Porterfield
President, Franklin & Marshall College
Elizabeth Davis
President, Furman University
John J. DeGioia
President, Georgetown University
Janet Morgan Riggs
President, Gettysburg College
Jose Antonio Bowen
President, Goucher College
Raynard Kington
President, Grinnell College
David Wippman
President, Hamilton College
Drew Faust
President, Harvard University
Kimberly Benston
President, Haverford College
James Troha
President, Juniata College
Sean Decatur
President, Kenyon College
Teresa Amott
President, Knox College
Jonathan Burke
President, Laguna College of Art and Design
Randal Wisbey
President, La Sierra University
Barry Glassner
President, Lewis & Clark College
Timothy Law Snyder
President, Loyola Marymount University
Brian Linnane, S.J.
President, Loyola University Maryland
Brian Rosenberg
President, Macalester College
Lucas Lamadrid
President, Marymount California University
Richard Moran
President, Menlo College
Laurie Patton
President, Middlebury College
Beth Hillman
President, Mills College
Sonya Stephens
Acting President, Mount Holyoke College
Morton Schapiro
President, Northwestern University
Judith Maxwell Greig
President, Notre Dame de Namur University
Marvin Krislov
President, Oberlin College
Jonathan Veitch
President, Occidental College
Lawrence Schall
President, Oglethorpe University
Rock Jones
President, Ohio Wesleyan University
Michael Sorrell
President, Paul Quinn College
Eric Barron
President, Penn State University
Melvin L. Oliver
President, Pitzer College
David Oxtoby
President, Pomona College
Christopher Eisgruber
President, Princeton University
John Kroger
President, Reed College
David Leebron
President, Rice University
Robert Barchi
President, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Eugene Cornacchia
President, Saint Peter's University
Michael Engh
President, Santa Clara University
Karen Lawrence
President, Sarah Lawrence College
Lara Tiedens
President, Scripps College
Philip Glotzbach
President, Skidmore College
Kathleen McCartney
President, Smith College
Edward B. Burger
President, Southwestern University
Samuel Stanley
President, Stony Brook University
Valerie Smith
President, Swarthmore College
Bernadette Gray-Little
Chancellor, The University of Kansas
Seamus Carey
President, Transylvania University
Joanne Berger-Sweeney
President, Trinity College (CT)
Danny Anderson
President, Trinity University
Anthony Monaco
President, Tufts University
Satish K. Tripathi
President, University at Buffalo
Ralph Hexter
Interim Chancellor, University of California, Davis
Howard Gillman
Chancellor, University of California, Irvine
Pradeep Khosla
Chancellor, University of California San Diego
Michael A. Olivas
Interim President, University of Houston-Downtown
Devorah Lieberman
President, University of La Verne
Wallace Loh
President, University of Maryland, College Park
Mark Schlissel
President, University of Michigan
John Jenkins
President, University of Notre Dame
Amy Gutmann
President, University of Pennsylvania
Isiaah Crawford
President, University of Puget Sound
Ralph Kuncl
President, University of Redlands
James Harris
President, University of San Diego
Paul Fitzgerald
President, University of San Francisco
Denise Doyle
Interim President, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio
Pamela Eibeck
President, University of the Pacific
Stephen Morgan
President, University of the West
Jonathan Chenette
Interim President, Vassar College
Tori Haring-Smith
President, Washington & Jefferson College
Kenneth Ruscio
President, Washington and Lee University
Paula Johnson
President, Wellesley College
Michael Roth
President, Wesleyan University
Sharon Herzberger
President, Whittier College
Stephen Thorsett
President, Willamette University
Adam Falk
President, Williams College
Peter Salovey
President, Yale University