Aristotle once said “Hope is a waking dream.” For the members of Unidos Por Sangre, a dream may culminate and come to life.
On Wednesday, Feb. 17, UPS will be giving a presentation entitled “A Night of Dreaming: Discussing the Dream Act at 7:30 PM in Detchon Hall.”
The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, or Dream Act, exists as a bill awaiting legislative judgment that would allow undocumented students up to 6 years of legal residence in the US within the provision that they meet certain requirements: having arrived in the U.S. while under the age of 16, having lived in the U.S. for at least 5 consecutive years before the bill’s date of enactment, and having completed high school or earned a GED.
UPS Vice-President Alejandro Maya elaborated, “There have been a series of speeches given at MXI, Student Senate and other places, just trying to get the issue out there, because it’s an issue that affects the Latino community a lot. Most of the people whom I’ve asked about the act, both professors and students, haven’t heard about it.
What we want to do first is inform people of the specifics, and do away with the myths that exist about it,” Maya explained about the Night of Dreaming, which will feature talks from UPS as well as collaborations from Professor Warner and a special guest speaker from the Youth Coalition at IUPUI.
“After that, our ultimate goal is to get Wabash College to support the Dream Act,” Maya stated, “We would not be the first college to do so; Harvard, among others, has declared its support, as well as companies such as Microsoft and CollegeBoard.”
In addition, UPS will be presenting the act to the faculty at the staff luncheon this Friday as a precursor to next Wednesday’s presentation in order to garner support and ensure a high attendance next week.