President's Message: Value, honor and respect
They were young, Catholic, orphaned Irish-Canadians with no prospects. At that time, some people wouldn't hire Irish people, and my grandmother found it was helpful to claim to be of English ancestry since her last name could be found on both sides of the Irish Sea.
She ended up getting a job as a "bolt carrier" in a sewing shop -- she carried large bolts of cloth to the cutting table. She and her future husband went on to establish a business that employed many dozens of people in Cincinnati, Columbus and St. Louis.
I'm writing this to fulfill a promise I made to an impressive group of Wichita State students who arrived in our country as children, not knowing they had a place in history as part of a wave of undocumented immigrants who would spend years in the political spotlight.
I met with these students in my office recently, along with Teri Hall, vice president for student affairs.
The four WSU students are part of a group of 750,000 young people across the country who are registered in a federal program known as DACA -- Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
In exchange for registering, they have been given temporary relief from the possibility of deportation and are eligible for two-year renewable work permits.
Because this program was created by an executive order of President Obama, these students fear the program could be dissolved by an executive order from President Trump.
In that respect, they join those affected by the recent travel executive order and LGBTQ people who worry that their advances in recent years may also be reversed by federal action.
I want to make it clear that Wichita State stands with the DACA students and the others who add so much to the energy and intellect of our campus and the future of our democracy and economy.
We value, honor and respect the talent and perspectives that people of all races, nations and cultures bring to our campus.
I'm not one for signing petitions; I've seldom done so. But I'm proud to be among more than 600 college presidents across the country who have signed a petition originated at Pomona College in support of DACA students. It's called the "Statement in Support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program and our Undocumented Immigrant Students."
You can read the language here, https://www.pomona.edu/news/2016/11/21-college-university-presidents-call-us-uphold-and-continue-daca
Whether you agree or disagree, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.
Email me, president@wichita.edu.