Dec. 5, 2016
President Gaudino Joins Call to Preserve Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
Central Washington University President James L. Gaudino has joined more than 400 other college and university presidents in calling for the preservation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Gaudino this week signed an open letter urging the nation’s leadership to continue the DACA program, which was an executive order signed by President Barack Obama in 2012 that allows undocumented immigrant students to continue their educations without fear of deportation.
“We have seen the critical benefits of this program for our students, and the highly positive impacts on our institutions and communities,” the letter stated. “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 a moral imperative and a national necessity.”
Gaudino said he was honored to sign the letter, which has also been signed by, among others, the presidents of the University of Washington, Washington State University, and Western Washington University, because it addresses an issue that is important to CWU.
“The state of Washington has an estimated 17,000 students benefitting from DACA, who are important contributors to our campus communities,” he said. “I strongly support permitting them to continue to achieve their educational goals.”
Gaudino also sent out a campus-wide memo this week that reinforced the university’s official policies regarding undocumented students. In it, he said the university’s current policies provide many protections for those students fearful of being deported.
He wrote that under present campus practices:
• CWU has no legal obligation or affirmative duty to enforce federal immigration law. That is the responsibility of federal law enforcement agencies.
• Campus police do not question people about their immigration status and do not detain or arrest undocumented persons just because they are undocumented.
• CWU does not make admissions or other decisions about students based on their immigration status, and does not request immigration documentation (except as needed to determine the eligibility of “HB 1079” students for resident tuition rates).
• CWU does not volunteer information about student enrollees and does not disclose protected information from their student education records, except as required in response to a lawfully issued subpoena or court order.
• While protecting freedom of speech, sometimes even offensive speech, CWU does not tolerate unlawful harassment, threats, or hate crimes as defined under its student conduct code or applicable law.
• CWU welcomes and affirms the values of diversity and inclusiveness, as well as the right of all students to be free from unlawful interference with the attainment of their educational goals.
Media contact: Richard Moreno, director of content development, 509-963-2714, Richard.Moreno@cwu.edu.
—December 5, 2016