679804_10100559082011961_1993154661_oClaremont, referred to as the city of trees and Ph.Ds., is a Los Angeles suburban dreamscape nestled near the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains with a small town vibe. It is the home of the Claremont Colleges–5 well-endowed private colleges and 2 graduate schools–and the prestigious Webb Schools, two independent boarding high schools.

This is the backdrop of the Claremont Graduate University, which in 2011/2012 opened the doors to four undocumented students as a result of a handful of staff and faculty who took a stand on our behalf by making a financial aid offer that covered full tuition for coursework. All students were admitted to the School of Educational Studies. Years later, the university would admit masters’ students to other departments. One of them withdrew from the university. The other was forced to take a semester off while she worked to raise enough money to return. Such was the case with one Ph.D. student. Others of us have seriously considered doing the same. As the Ph.D. student cohort began to finish coursework, we asked for a solution to funding for doctoral studies and asked for a plan to address the need to support future of undocumented students at CGU. This was the premise of our first meeting with the Provost.

283792_10100450270635831_1949590138_nIn our second meeting with the Provost, sometime in November, he excitedly shared that the university would cover four semesters of Doc Studies for the four undocumented Ph.D. students on campus. He announced it as a victory, one that would enable us to finish our Ph.D. journey and get us on the way to our career of choice, a demonstration of their commitment to us and an acknowledgement of our achievements. The tone–not of his voice, but of the gesture–was one of “thank you for being a student. Fine we will fund your remaining work, so you can graduate and get out of our hair.” And yet, we explained to the Provost:

  • This does not address the financial needs of undocumented Masters students. In fact, it creates a division among current undocumented students on the premise that they made a commitment to Ph.D. students when we received our admissions letter–to help us finish. Is the same commitment not made to all students?
  • As Ph.D. students, we are committed to finding long-term solutions to ensure that CGU continues to attract and support undocumented students. How can we be proud to be CGU students and future graduates of the university when we cannot invite other undocumented students to the university? We reminded him that, in fact, one of friends and colleagues would continue to say that she would rather drop out than give up on finding a long-term pathway for undocumented students at CGU.
  • This mentality of focusing on us only continued to view undocumented students as a burden. We re-explained that personally and professionally, we had skills and connections that could be financially beneficial to the university, and we would welcome an opportunity to try to activate these in partnership with CGU to be a proactive component of a long-term strategy. The Provost’s eyes lit up as we began to discuss target fundraising goals, but months passed and the light has been turned off by administrative chaos, amidst the resignation of the Fund Development Trustee, a vacancy in the Advancement office and other administrative transitions. Because of this, he explained (non-apologetically), we were not a priority to the Board of Trustees [and therefore, to the university].

Flash forward since that second meeting–The Master’s student has found a listening ear in her department with great amounts of good will, but perhaps not enough political or financial capital to seamlessly help to fund  her remaining terms. New prospective undocumented students have been admitted without sufficient support to make attendance a viable option. Two Ph.D. students are now ABD. The remaining two will begin writing their dissertation proposals. And, as we advance through these important academic milestones which are cause for celebration, we also mourn the fact that the undocumented student population at CGU is, simultaneously, rapidly heading toward extinction.