Students in Service and Leadership at Harvard

Harvard College's Response to Undocumented Student's Issues

►►Even before the repeal of DACA, President Drew Faust supported DACA and undocumented students, but her political efforts including joining the University President's Alliance for Undocumented Students have come as a result of the ordered repeal of DACA by President Trump on September 5th, 2017. 

Immediately after President Trump's announcement on September 5th, 2017 about the March 5, 2018 cancelation of DACA, multiple Harvard administrators, including President Faust and Dean of the College, sent out emails with resources for all affected communities, including undocumented students.

Excerpts from the emails can be found below:

A collection of emails from administrations can be found here: https://undocumented.harvard.edu/academic-advising​

The specific email discussed is from from President Drew Faust on September 5, 2016
In this email she stated:

" Today’s announcement of the elimination, in six months, of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program represents a course of action that challenges some of the most foundational values of our nation and American higher education. This cruel policy recognizes neither justice nor mercy.
...
I recognize that this is a time of anxiety and frustration for the members of our community who are undocumented, many of whom have known no home country other than the United States. These individuals contribute to our community in outstanding and innumerable ways, and we are dedicated, at this time of deep uncertainty, to ensuring their inclusion and full engagement with university life."

Later in the email she listed a list of resources such as the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC) at Harvard Law School which would provide legal services to undocumented members. The University has developed a list of immigration lawyers willing to consider pro bono cases to supplement these services, also available through an HIRC advisor.She then also cited the continuation of Mental Health Services for those affected, including a weeklong support group headed by CAMHS Counselor Carolina Gonzalez. 

Weeks Later, a Working Group was formed to better analyze how to better serve the undergraduate undocumented community. It is estimated that there about 60 undergraduate undocumented students (including both DACAmented and undocumented students).


Full Working Report can be Accessed Here: 

A summary of Key Points is provided below: 

Report on the Working Group for Undocumented and DACA Students in Harvard College

The working report began with stating Harvard's and the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion's Mission Statement

The Mission of Harvard College
The mission of Harvard College is to educate the citizens and citizen-leaders for our society. We do this through our commitment to the transformative power of a liberal arts and sciences education.

Mission of the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
The mission of the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) is to foster understanding, community and belonging at Harvard College, as well as demonstrate a commitment to living out our values as an inclusive community through a broad array of programs and initiatives that permanently embed diversity and inclusion in the fabric of the College’s academic, residential, and work environments.

Then, the report followed by listing what Harvard had done after the Presidential Election.

Upon the outcome of the November 2016 Presidential election, it reported that Harvard College has: 

  • provided one-on-one advising for 
  • hiring a Fellow for Undocumented Students
  • collaboration with Counseling and Mental Health Services to provide a weekly support group
  • collaboration with the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic (HIRC) at Harvard Law School to provide legal support
  • presentations and teach-ins from national and local speakers on issues related to immigration status
  • the establishment of this working group 
  • facilitated webinars and ‘Know Your Rights’ presentations
  • collaboration with Act On a Dream student organization to better support students affected by the DHS memo instituting DACA 
  • collaboration with the Office of the President on policy
  • training tutors and proctors on advising undocumented students
  • supporting and working with Act on a Dream student organization
  • continued coordination, collaboration, and communication with the Dean of Harvard College and the President’s Office
  • two websites (one College-specific and one University-wide) specific to supporting undocumented and DACA students at Harvard

Thus, through its broad-based liberal arts education, and commitment to providing the same opportunities to all students, in-light of the statements made pre- and post- Presidential inauguration regarding the revocation of DACA and imminent deportation of the undocumented population in this country, the College has remained committed to providing Undocumented and DACA students with extra support and programming so that they can continue to contribute as integral members of the Harvard community.

Executive Summary: 
 Following that, the report outlined the importance of contextualizing the undocu+ community's issues and concerns to both Harvard administrators and the larger Harvard community. This was supported by the statement: 

Due to their immigration status, this population of students has heightened levels of anxiety and concern related to finances, fear of deportation, and a sense of isolation and marginalization not only for themselves, but for their families as well.

This heightened fear has led to challenges in academic performance and social interactions, lack of sleep and increase in physical ailments. 

The Charge of the Working Group

Then, it went onto describing the working group's role. 
Immediately following the 2016 presidential election, the Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion formed a group comprised of both College administrators and students, has been responsible for developing support structures for undocumented and DACA students. 

Subcommittees were created: Benchmarking, Legal Support, Communications & Outreach, and Resources & Programming.

► Findings:

♦ Benchmarking Subcommittee

Camila Nardozzi, Director, Office of International Education (Chair)
Carolina Gonzalez, Social Worker, Counseling and Mental Health Services
Aurora Sanfeliz, Counselor, Bureau of Study Counsel
Katie Derzon, Fellow for Undocumented Students, Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Bruno Villegas McCubbin (student, 2018)

This subcommittee researched resources and services available to students at other institutions such as Universities of California (UC) Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Cruz. They also looked into Loyola University in Chicago, Princeton University, Dartmouth College, and Brown University. 

They reported that numbers-wise Harvard's undocumented community has small compared to school's like UCLA which had a about 700 undocumented students compared to 60 in Harvard College. 
Some of the resources/services provided by UCLA and the other researched schools were: 

  • Academic Advising
  • Mental Health Counseling Support
  • ​Legal Support
  • Professional Development and Training (for summer and post-graduation opportunities)
  • Funding and issues related to Financial Aid
  • Lists of DACA-friendly employers both internal and external to the University
  • A list of state and national organizations providing services to undocumented students
  • Drop-in and appointment office hours with staff from the Undocumented Student Program
  • Spiritual Care
Additionally, they cited the use of institutional websites by Jesuit and other Ivy League institutions. These sites were easy-to-find and were specific to Undocumented Students. They listed in a simple manner, point-people for each department/office, provide extensive lists of links to State and National resources, and pictures, videos, blogs, and articles for undocumented and DACA student populations.

Other examples of other school's communication to undocumented students included: 
  • A listserv with the sole purpose of relating information relevant to undocumented and DACA-related issues
  • An automatically generating calendar of undocumented-related events, visible on the homepage of their website
  • facebook and Instagram accounts, updated regularly
In terms of the balance between transparency and privacy, it was noted that students value and appreciate normalization as expressed by this:

Specifically, the program coordinator [at UCLA] found that the undocumented students with whom she works want to be part of the mainstream University population, not hidden or further marginalized.

Additionally, this subcommittee noted that all institutions held "UndocuAlly" trainings to in order to provide the larger academic community with information and resources to assist undocumented students with whom they might interact. This is taking into consideration that some undocumented students may be uncomfortable visiting a specific center or office dedicated to supporting them, but not a specific member of the campus community.

RECOMMENDATIONS: 

After speaking with our colleagues at the institutions mentioned above, the Benchmarking subcommittee makes the following recommendations:
Short Term (up to 1 year)
  • Continue support/services offered during academic year 2016-2017. These include:
    • DACA renewal clinics
    • Teach-Ins and Know Your Rights Trainings
    • Webinars to keep students, allies, and families abreast of current
    • political issues affecting undocumented and DACA students
    • Trainings for staff, as done during the spring 2017 term10.
    • Seek outside resources and experts in immigration matters to present to the College community.
  • Facilitate UndocuAlly trainings for a larger portion of the Harvard College community.
  • Continue to develop the Undocumented Student website, currently housed within the EDI website, to contain up-to-date information on events and resources, both internal and external to Harvard.
  • Collaborate with the President’s Office to continue developing the University’s website for undocumented and DACA students.
  • Work closely with Katie O’Dair, Dean of Students, to hire an Associate Dean and Director of Diversity & Inclusion, to help ensure that undocumented student support continues seamlessly into the upcoming and following years.
  • Collaborate with the Harvard Alumni Association and the Office of Career Services to provide alumni and networking support for internship and employment opportunities.
    • Make a list of DACA-friendly employers available.
  • Create a clear and widely-known process for undocumented students to remain on campus during breaks in the academic year.
  • Create a clear and widely-known process for students to be funded for meaningful summer opportunities on-campus or domestically.
  • Foster a relationship with the heads of campus spiritual centers to engage them in conversations about supporting undocumented/DACAstudents.

Intermediate Term (1-3 years)

  • Foster a closer relationship between the Harvard undocumented/DACA students (and allies) and faculty. Host talks and larger events on immigration to which faculty are invited as well.
  • Consider creating social media pages/accounts on facebook, Instagram and Twitter to publicize events, trainings, share information, etc.
  • Increase mental health/spiritual care for undocumented students 
  • Create an encrypted database with as many people’s phone numbers as possible. This would be similar to the Signal app that some folks are already using to include all of the Harvard schools and ensure the security of our members’ phone numbers. This could be used to communicate quickly with our undocumented students specifically, in the event Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) comes to campus.
  • Establish a college-wide emergency plan if ICE comes to campus.
Long Term (3-5 years)
  • Establish a physical space for undocumented students and allies to meet and gather information

♦ Legal Support Subcommittee 

Sabi Ardalan, Assistant Director, Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic (Co-chair) 
Tana Ruegamer, Advisor, Harvard International Office (Co-chair)
Ana Andrade (student, 2019)
Rosa Vasquez (student, 2020)

The Legal Support subcommittee’s charge was to create recommendations to support undocumented and DACA students within a legal framework.

RECOMMENDATIONS: 

Short Term (up to 1 year)

  • Continue to reach out to members of the Harvard community to conduct consultations and/or provide other sources of legal support.
  • Continue to collaborate with the Harvard International Office and Residential Houses to assist students concerned about falling out of status due to falling behind in academic course work as a result of the stresses surrounding President Trump’s immigration policies.
  • Collaborate with College administrative offices to prepare for Opening Days. HIRC has reached out to key offices engaged in programming during Opening Days to ensure that information about HIRC’s legal and social service support reaches the students as soon as, or even before, they arrive on campus.
  • Continue outreach with student affinity groups to coordinate information sharing about HIRC’s services.
  • Developing a Rapid Response Team and legal support phone number for students’ family members who might be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
  • Continue holding information sessions and webinars for students and their families.
Intermediate and Long Term (1-3 years)
  • Research safety-planning options for students in their respective home states/cities, identifying local resources for mental health care in times of crisis, and local lawyers/clinics to contact if they or their family members come into contact with ICE while home over vacation or breaks fromschool.
  • Hire a permanent in-house immigration attorney.
  • Develop a state-by-state contact and resource list to direct students to in a time of crisis.
  • Reach out to immigration and refugee clinics, private attorneys, and nonprofit legal services with the goal of developing strong relationships so that students may feel confident in the resources recommended by HIRC.
  • Continue legal consultation and/or representation with students post-graduation if HIRC worked with them while they were enrolled students on campus.

♦ Communications and Outreach Subcommittee

Glen Brody Magid, Director, Advising Programs Office (Chair)
Niti Seth, Academi Counselor, Bureau of Study Counsel
Kevin Wehmhoefer, Social Worker, Counseling and Mental Health Services 
Daishi Tanaka (student, 2019)

The Communications & Outreach Subcommittee charge was to consider the best practices for communicating important information to undocumented and DACA students. 

Recommendations:

Short Term (up to 1 year)
  • Create a widely-known logo to appear on stickers, buttons, t-shirts, etc. This logo serves two purposes:
    • to raise awareness of the pressures that our undocumented and DACA students face;
    • and as a symbol of allyship. As the monarch butterfly represents issues surrounding migration, it is only natural that this will serve as the logo.
  • ​Create a communication plan, in the form of a dedicated listserv, open to all Harvard students, faculty, and staff, where communications regarding issues related to undocumented, DACA, BGLTQ, first-generation, and any other students served by the EDI Office are shared (see Appendix B for timeline of communication plan).
  • This listserv will be administered by Camila Nardozzi and Katie Derzon (until an Associate Dean and/or Director for EDI is hired).
  • All students, faculty and staff will receive a letter (in the beginning of the fall term) inviting them to join the listserv as an opt-in/opt-out (see Appendices C and D for draft letters to students and faculty and staff, respectively).
  • Specific key stakeholders around campus have been identified to serve as designated departmental/office liaisons, to communicate important information regarding undocumented and DACA students (see Appendix E).
  • All College meeting in early fall 2017 to inform College staff about the work of the Subcommittee and to distribute stickers with a request for them to be prominently displayed in offices, windows, etc.

♦ Resources and Programming Subcommittee

Robin Mount, Director, Office of Career Services (Chair)
Jasmine Waddell, Resident Dean of Freshmen for Elm Yard
Tia Rey, Senior Admissions Officer
Miguel Garcia, Student, 2018

The Resources and Programming Subcommittee charge was to consider the best practices for supporting undocumented and DACA students. 

Mechanisms for support are included in the three pillars of the Harvard College mission, regarding students’ personal, social, and intellectual transformations:

  • academically, there are trained supports throughout the advising system from the Board of Freshman Advisers, Sophomore Advisers, and departmental advisers;
  • socially, Act on a Dream serves as the primary student group dedicated to supporting undocumented and DACA students, but there are other student organizations that welcome these students’ participation as well;
  • and personally, the strong collaboration that exists between many offices on campus, such as Counseling and Mental Health Services, the Office of Career Services, the Freshman Dean’s Office, the Office of International Education, FinancialAid and Admissions, the International Office, and of course the Office of Student life, as well as the various student groups, help to maximize options for students while also ensuring their safety.

In addition to the office services detailed above, through the EDI, the College offered programming for undocumented, mixed-status, and DACA students (and allies) from November 2016 through the end of the spring 2017 term. Specifically, programs include:

  • 4 DACA renewal clinics
  • 1 Know Your Rights presentation
  • 1 Undocumented and DACA Teach-In
  • 2 Webinars
  • One-on-One Advising
  • Meet the Fellow (when Katie Derzon was hired)
  • Study break during spring term Reading Period

RECOMMENDATIONS: 

Short Term (up to 1 year)

  • Continue building on the EDI and University websites to offer more details and information for undocumented, mixed-status, and DACA students, their families, and allies.
  • Design channels to communicate with students about specific services and programs offered around campus:
    • Create a mechanism to reach students uncomfortable in participating in events because they do not want to their immigration status disclosed;
    • Work with other offices who work on diversity issues, such as the BGLTQ Office, to learn best practices for reaching students who are not yet comfortable disclosing their immigration status, but should be made aware of the services and resources available to them.
  • Publicize the resources to support our undocumented and DACA students more widely so that more people on campus are aware of them. Verbalizing this information may shift the Harvard culture and could help to de-stigmatize undocumented and DACA students.
  • Work to connect undocumented, mixed-status, and DACA students from across the University (undergraduate and graduate).
  • Conduct more cross training with CAMHS so that all counselors are better equipped to understand the issues undocumented, mixed- status, and DACA students face.
  • Improve academic advising for undocumented and DACA students to better prepare them for success, thus allowing them to take advantage of funding, programs, and other services and resources offered through Harvard.
  • Design more community building programs (such as the study break treat bag event) for students and allies.
  • Create a streamlined process regarding how best to fund undocumented students’ summer experiences and room and board needs.
  • Continue to educate offices and those who serve students, such as proctors, and tutors, about the undocumented experience.

Intermediate Term (1-3 years)

  • Hire a dedicated person to work with undocumented, first-generation, and low- income students across all four years to coordinate and centralize available resources.
    • This person would convene meetings with other offices and stakeholders across campus, and would help students navigate the many services at Harvard.
  • Ensure that undocumented, mixed-status, and DACA students receive extra support regarding academics, course selection, financial aid/summer funding, legal support, and post-graduate opportunities.
  • Provide an emergency fund to cover summer stipends for research, study, and internships, along with room and board, for students who struggle late in the semester with finding an enriching summer experience.
  • Supplement mental health resources through hiring specialized counselors (perhaps on a contract basis) to provide additional counseling hours when demand exceeds capacity.
  • Increase legal resources. One dedicated person at HIRC is notsufficient.
  • Institutionalize training for all staff and departments, particularly for those who work with freshmen, as this has been reported to be the hardest year of adjustment.
Following this report, however, I was left wondering what resources are actually available for current and potential Harvard DACA and undocumented students?

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