The Women’s and Gender Studies Center for Social Justice will host a public forum on "DACA and the Undocumented" to show support and inform members of the OU community.
There will be two sessions on Sept. 14 at noon and 3:30 p.m. in Meacham Auditorium in the Oklahoma Memorial Union.
Seven panelists representing various offices on campus will begin the discussion followed by time for questions from the audience, said Suzette Grillot, dean of the College of International Studies. The panelists include a DACA student, an immigration attorney and the director of diversity and enrichment programs in admissions and recruitment.
“The primary goal though, I believe, is to show support for this community,” Grillot said. “We have dozens of students and staff who are effected by the DACA decision, and we want to make sure that they have the information they need and the resources that they need, to show that they have support on campus during this very uncertain time.”
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump called for the end of former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and gave Congress six months to come up with a solution. In response, the OU's Student Government Association, the Office of University Community and President David Boren have advocated for the 80 undocumented OU students who would be effected.
All of the colleges and various offices on campus will be sending representatives to answer questions, Grillot said. One of the main goals of the forum is to make sure the university community, especially those effected by the decision to end DACA, are aware of what is going on, she said.
Each session will last an hour and a half, and the Women’s and Gender Studies Center for Social Justice is hosting the forum, which is being co-sponsored by a number of OU colleges and University Libraries.
Democrats said on Sept. 13 that they had made a deal with Trump that would protect “younger immigrants from deportation and fund some border security enhancements.”
