Western Oregon Journal

I have been on a statewide board for three years now. When I first joined I was unknowledgeable about student issues; in fact, I didn't even know that we necessarily had them, let alone a board to work only on them. But, I quickly learned that our issues do not merely stop at high tuition, low aid, and very poor rights. There are many, many other issues that affect students.

Take "Tuition Equity," for example. Tuition Equity would award undocumented students in state tuition, with stipulations. The students would have to have graduated from an Oregon high school and spent at least three years there, been accepted to an Oregon public university or college and be working toward residency. Sounds pretty simple to me-they have lived in Oregon for at least three years, they have graduated from here, they were accepted to our colleges, and they are working to become a resident. Sounds like the students who would be eligible for the program would be very deserving, hard working Oregonians.

The current system locks these very students out of a post-secondary education by making them pay out-of-state tuition, which at Western is 300 percent more than in-state tuition. The current message to undocumented students is, "You can work hard, graduate from Oregon, be here longer than any residency guidelines (had you been born in the United States), and a university has accepted you, BUT you have to pay more than your best friend who was born in Oregon and is Caucasian." That, to me, is wrong.

The statewide board that I belong to has now made Tuition Equity their number-one priority.

And yes, I represent each and every one of you on that board, working toward making Tuition Equity and many other goals a reality for Oregon students. But, on that same board a discussion about who we represent has been tossed around. Some feel that we should only work on issues that directly affect the majority of our Oregon students, thus straight, white students.

I refuse and have fought against that idea. Thinking that we should only represent our majority of students is ludicrous bigotry at its most fundamental core. But, as I am running out of space in this column, what do you think? Should undocumented students, who fit the above criteria, be allowed to receive in-state tuition or should they not, AND who do you feel your student leaders represent-only the majority of students or all students? I urge you to continue this debate on ASWOU.org-your student voice.

Article Tools