In November of 2006, the state of Michigan voted and passed, with a 58% majority, the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, or Proposal 2. Passage of this proposal amended Article 1 Section 26 of the State Constitution to include language forbidding “preferential treatment,” in addition to discrimination, based on race, gender, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, education or contracting arrangements. In the dialogue that has followed Prop2’s passage, much attention has been given to the ramifications for minority races, females, and students from underprivileged backgrounds. Little consideration has been given, however, to the question of ‘national origin,’ or more specifically, access to education for American immigrants. This oversight is regrettable; to omit immigrants from the dialogue on education access is to deny millions of Americans the resources for success.
Considered in light of American attitudes, it’s clear why education access for non-nationals might fall to the way side; America is no longer the welcoming refuge it once was. Instead of jobs, homes and apple pie, prospective citizens are offered a bureaucratic run-around, an indefinite stay in a detention facility, or a warm reception from armed civilian minutemen guarding the southern border. In the last several decades, Americans have exhibited an aversion to immigration, both legal and otherwise. American nationalism remains grounded in the idea that privileges for others occur at the expense of American opportunities. Such sentiments are the underpinning of Proposal 2.
The regents and administrators at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University have worked diligently to bolster access to higher education while restructuring admissions processes in light of Proposal 2’s passage. In line with these efforts, the University of Michigan is taking steps to open the dialogue on immigration and access to higher education. With regards to Proposal 2 and national origin, the University asserts “U-M works to build a learning community that is broadly diverse, and that includes welcoming students, staff and faculty from all across the globe. These international scholars contribute to our vibrant intellectual community.”
To continue this open dialogue, The National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good at the University of Michigan has announced a national working conference entitled Challenges and Opportunities; Conversations about Immigration and Higher Education. The three day conference aims at engaging educators, community leaders, state higher education officers, legislators, students, researchers, educational administrators, policy makers and others in a ground breaking discussion on immigration and education access. Furthermore, the conference promises to develop an agenda and a course of action to encourage access to education for immigrants.
While the conference boasts some distinguished participants-- John Quinones of ABC Primetime News and Charles Reed, the Chancellor of California State University, have confirmed participation-- the Director of the National Forum, Dr. John C. Burkhardt, remains committed to including a student voice. To this end, he has extended an open invitation to the students of the Roosevelt Institution.
Having acknowledged the American fear that privilege and opportunity is a zero-sum game, it follows that American students would reject increased access to higher education for immigrants in fear that opportunities for immigrants will limit admissions or funding for citizens. To do so, however, would prove more costly to American students.
The value of education rests in exposure; to new ideas, to new challenges, and to new people. Education is meaningful because it demands that the student step outside their comfort zone and their egocentricity and learn to function as a member of a greater, and diverse, society. To this end, colleges and universities in Michigan have been committed to building diverse communities where creative and dynamic energies can collide. This vision is only realized, however, when those energies are different. Such differences include race, gender, sex, religion, political thought, and also national understandings. A complete and meaningful education demands the inclusion of all peoples. The exclusion of any perspective is a discriminatory act which breeds biased understandings.
In a November 8 address to the University of Michigan community, President Mary Sue Coleman affirmed the need for diversity in education, saying “Diversity makes us strong, and it is too critical to our mission, too critical to our excellence, and too critical to our future to simply abandon. This applies to our state as much as our University. Michigan’s public universities and our public bodies must be more determined than ever to provide opportunities for women and minorities, who make up the majority of our citizenry.”
Let us not forget that immigrants are significant members of our citizenry and contributors to our society and must also be offered access and opportunities.
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