At the Long Beach Press Telegram, "Cal State Long Beach, Long Beach City College partner in scholarship program for undocumented students":
LONG BEACH - Officials at Cal State Long Beach and Long Beach City College announced Tuesday that they will partner with the private sector to provide scholarships for students who are in the country illegally.More.
CSULB and LBCC are among 12 institutions across the country who joined TheDream.US scholarship program, which has raised more than $25 million to provide more than 2,000 scholarships over the next decade for undocumented immigrant students. The program is led by Donald Graham, former CEO of the Washington Post Co., as well as Democratic strategist Henry R. Munoz III and Carlos Gutierrez, former secretary of commerce during the George W. Bush administration.
Long Beach is the first community in California to join the program. Other states include Texas, New York and Florida. They are joined by Washington, D.C., and Mount Washington College, a national online college.
The scholarships, which will cover up to 100 percent of tuition costs, fees and books at a maximum of $12,500 for associate’s degrees and $25,000 for bachelor’s degrees, are available to students who would benefit from pending DREAM Act legislation, which would give children of undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship.
Opponents of the DREAM Act say the move is part of a thinly veiled effort to eventually provide amnesty to illegal immigrant students and their parents.
LBCC and CSULB officials said Tuesday the TheDream.US scholarship program provides a chance for the brightest undocumented students to earn an education and contribute to the economy.
LBCC President Eloy Ortiz Oakley, speaking by phone from Washington, D.C., said his campus was approached by the founders of the program, which is supported heavily by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Fernandez Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and Inter-American Development Bank among others.
Oakley expects protests from those who oppose funding the education of illegal immigrants but said his chief concern is for those students already in the community.
“Certainly there’s always pushback no matter what you do,” he said. “First, California has already made an effort to educate these students by passing the California DREAM Act. We are already serving these students. It has an economic benefit to our community. These students are already in our community, and they are much better assets if they are educated. We’ll leave the politics to the politicians, and we will serve the students who are in our community.”
Donald J. Para, interim president of CSULB, said in a statement that the scholarship program is an opportunity to help hardworking students reach their personal and career goals.
“Further, we know that when one member of a family earns a college degree, other family members follow,” he said. “This lifts an entire family to be able to achieve their collective dream of a better life, which benefits California, our nation and our society.”
Terri Carbaugh, a spokeswoman for CSULB, said by phone from the nation’s capital that the campus also provides counseling, academic advising and peer support for undocumented students.
“The end goal is always economic prosperity,” Carbaugh said. “And they’re here, and they live among us. They’re our neighbors, friends and family, and we’re all better served when we provide opportunities for them to get a degree.”
The scholarship program came out of a partnership between so-called “DREAMers,” business and education leaders and elected officials.
Notice how LBCC Superintendent-President Eloy Oakley makes sure to include his Hispanic name, "Ortiz," when quoted for the piece. Gotta showcase the La Raza creds.
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