Generation Progress Summer 2014

SUMMER 2014 • genprogress.org

HIDDEN CRISIS ON

CAMPUS

Young activists are leading the effort to prevent sexual assault on college campuses. PAGE 18

INSIDE

SENATOR WARREN DISCUSSES STUDENT LOAN REFINANCING

ONE NEWTOWN TEEN’S FIGHT TO END GUN VIOLENCE

PHOTOS: UNREST IN UKRAINE

CONTENTS Generation Progress Magazine

Summer 2014 Generation Progress is the youth outreach and advocacy arm of the Center for American Progress.

Student Debt ... 4

Gun Violence Prevention ... 12

Campus Sexual Assault ... 18

Immigration ... 24

International ... 32

Health Care ... 34

2 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

Generation Progress Team Sarah Audelo Policy Director Gurwin Ahuja Policy Advocate Douglas Bair Managing Editor Chelsea Coatney Communications Associate Kurston Cook Special Projects Manager Anne Johnson Executive Director Rebecca Kaplan Operations Coordinator Alex Langley Online Communications Associate Jamal Little Press Associate Zenen Jaimes Perez Policy Advocate Lauren Sills Advocacy Associate Maggie Thompson Student Debt Campaign Manager Layla Zaidane Associate Director, Digital Strategy Annie Wood, Arden Kreeger, Ashira Morris, Cherisse Woolard, Hannah Finnie, Katherine Banks, Mante Peteren, Manuel Gallardo, Max Levy, Shana Toor, Tanner Glenn, Yvonne Kouadjo Generation Progress Interns

S

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Progress In The Making This year was an extraordinary year for us! We engaged more than 1.5 million young Americans through our communications, policy, and organizing. We have provided leadership and messaging trainings to more than 200 young people, met with senior White House officials (including President Barack Obama!) to discuss college affordability, and launched a new gun violence prevention network to provide young people with the tools and resources that they need to create change in their communities.

As we look forward, Generation Progress will continue our work on moving the progressive agenda forward through issue campaigns framed through our three core values: economic justice, human and civil rights, and democracy.

Our economic justice work is focused on creating an economy that works for all Americans, particularly the Millennial generation. This year, we hosted six state roundtable discussions on young people and the economy in California, Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, New York, and Ohio. We will work on long-term solutions to ease the burden of student debt and increase access to affordable higher education along with quality jobs.

A huge success of 2014 was the introduction of student loan refinancing legislation on the Senate floor. We will continue to work on this issue and highlight it as a national priority. Additionally, we will launch a new multiyear campaign to engage Millennials in discussions around fiscal policy to create an “Everyone Economy.”

Our human and civil rights work includes our advocacy for LGBTQ rights, immigration reform, the Affordable Care Act, preventing gun violence, addressing climate change, and other issues of creating a more just society grounded in progressive values. Our democracy campaigns will explore ways to engage young people in the electoral process and civic engagement, including voting rights and civic participation.

Anne Johnson is the director of Generation Progress—the youth outreach arm of the Center for American Progress.

genprogress.org @genprogress GenProgress GenProgress GenProgress hello@genprogress.org

Let’s continue to make progress together!

Published by Generation Progress Center for American Progress 1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor Washington, DC 20005

Anne Johnson Executive Director, Generation Progress

Printed in the United States.

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Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress | 3

Five Minutes With

Senator Elizabeth Warren

AP/Jacquelyn Martin.

Meet the leader in Congress who is fighting to give the millions of Americans saddled by student loans a fair shot at the American Dream.

By Douglas Bair You have a new book out called A Fighting Chance, so would you mind elaborating on what most inspired you to publish a new book?

I wrote this book out of gratitude. Gratitude to my parents who worked so hard and had so little. And gratitude for an America that gave a kid like me a fighting chance.

My daddy worked as a maintenance man, my mom held down a minimum-wage job at Sears, and I ended up in the United States Senate. Sure, hard work matters, but I never forget that I was able to go to a commuter college that cost $50 a semester and a public law school that cost just over $400 a semester. I was able to do those things because I grew up in an America that was investing in kids and building a strong middle class.

Today, Washington is rigged to work for those who have already made it. It’s not working so well for young people who are working hard to get an education and are forced to take on a huge debt burden to pay for it. A Fighting Chance is a book about how we can fight back and what we can do to make sure there’s a level playing field for everyone.

We know that 40 million Americans currently have $1.2 trillion in student loan debt, and our generation has experienced firsthand the economic setbacks of that debt, such as delaying major economic purchases like homes, cars, and starting small businesses. What does this student 4 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

debt crisis mean for the country’s economic future?

Student loan debt has become an economic emergency for the whole country. The Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have been sounding the alarm. Because people loaded with debt are not making big purchases, demand is weak—and because demand is weak, businesses don’t hire as many workers, and when businesses don’t hire as many workers, demand weakens even more—creating a terrible downward spiral in the economy.

This is an economic crisis that we cannot afford to ignore.

We must act now to ease the mountain of debt that is crushing young people, and to bring down the overall cost of college.

You have called for allowing Americans with student loans to refinance them at lower interest rates, similar to how homeowners have been able to refinance mortgages. How would refinancing help borrowers carrying student debt?

Refinancing student loans would put money back in the pockets of borrowers who are struggling to build a future.

Millions of borrowers could save hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year. These students didn’t go to the mall and run up charges on a credit card. They worked hard and learned new skills that will benefit this country and help us build a stronger middle class and a stronger America. When interest rates are low, homeowners can refinance their mortgages.

Big corporations can swap more expensive debt for cheaper debt. Even state and local governments have refinanced their

debts. This is an issue of basic fairness—students should be able to refinance their loans, too.

You’ve been a law professor. You’ve created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And now you’re a U.S. Senator. What have you learned about our country in these roles, and how are you working to give young Americans a fair shot?

When we fought to set up the consumer agency, we went up against an army of lawyers and lobbyists working to keep the system tilted for the biggest corporations.

It was a tough fight, but we won because people from across the country came together, got organized and fought for what we believed in. We ended up with a strong consumer agency —one that is already making a difference for millions of families across the country. It’s been up and running for less than three years, but that little agency has already forced big financial institutions to return nearly $4 billion to customers they cheated.

At the beginning of that fight, many people said there was no way we could win. But I also knew that if we didn’t fight at all, our chances would be zero. We built a strong grassroots organization that fought hard for the consumer agency, and eventually we succeeded.

We need to have the same commitment to fight to lower the interest rate on student loans—and to keep fighting to make sure that everyone who works hard and plays by the rules has a fair shot to get ahead. Equal pay for equal work, a higher minimum wage, a world where children everywhere can drink the water and breathe the air—these are tough fights, but if we get organized and stay focused, I know we can succeed in leveling the playing field for hardworking people across the country.

It’s easy to become weary of gridlock in Congress. What can Americans across the country—including those with student debt—do to let their elected officials know that we need their support on issues like student debt?

The big banks and corporations have armies of lawyers and lobbyists, and they get paid to speak out over and over.

Students and young people don’t have those lobbyists, but they have their voices and their votes—and they can hold our elected officials accountable. Change is possible in Washington when change is demanded outside of Washington, and that’s why it is powerfully important for people across the country to reach out to elected officials and make their voices heard.

When the Senate voted last month on the student loan refinancing bill, people across the country spoke up and made clear what was at stake. We gathered more than 750,000 signatures on petitions, and got every Democrat, every Independent, and even three Republicans to support advancing the bill.

We didn’t win that vote, but we’re not going to let the issue die. Keep going to events to ask questions and share your stories with elected officials. Send an email or make a call, and keep circulating the petitions. The only way we win is if we fight.

What advice would you give young people as they begin their independent financial lives?

I know that it’s a difficult time for many young people who are just beginning their careers, especially those who are working hard to pay back their student loans or to find a job in a tough economy. The key to managing your finances is to know how much you spend and take control of your money. Remember to budget enough to pay your bills and other needs, while paying down your debts and putting away savings for the future.

You need to take care of yourself, but it is also important to put some of your energy into making sure that you have a chance to fight on a level playing field. To build a real future, we’ll need to fight shoulder-to-shoulder so that this country once again builds opportunities so that everyone who works hard has a fighting chance to succeed.

Andy Wordell shares her own story of struggling with student debt loans during a press conference earlier this summer at the U.S. Capitol. (Photo courtesy of Senate Democrats.)

Fighting For The 40 Million

By Brian Stewart Andy Wordell is ready to fight.

Standing in Generation Progress’ office in Washington, D.C., Wordell spouts off puns and cracks a few jokes to the staff. She’s just arrived from New Hampshire, where she and her spouse live. In less than 24 hours, she’ll be standing alongside a handful of high-profile U.S. Senators and, not long after that, behind President Barack Obama. But right now, she’s mocking me.

Growing up, Wordell didn’t have much. She entered the foster care system at 11, instilling in her a desire to give back and help others. In high school, she heard the same message from everyone—school counselors, pundits on TV, elected officials—that higher education was crucial for bettering her life. She was told that student loans were a lifeline, a way for everyone to pursue their dreams, regardless of your wealth or background. So Wordell did as she was told, diving into a program in a field of study that would, as she says, “allow me to express my gratitude for what had been done for me.”

“My foster parents received no benefits, but loved and 6 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

cared for me because it was the right thing to do,” she said.

“I commuted to college and did everything possible to keep expenses at a bare minimum. I relied on the kindness of others to have a place to live and pay other expenses.”

Graduation came. A job offer. The first paycheck. The next paycheck. But soon enough, Wordell fell behind. She planned to work for a few years to pay off most of her student loans—a scenario that folks assured her would be feasible.

Working as a social-service professional, she was now living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to make her monthly student loan payments.

At 38, Wordell did the only thing she could think of—She went back to school, enrolling in a graduate program with the belief that, “I would make more money with a graduate degree, and surely be able to pay off my student loans and continue working in social services.”

“Every decision that my spouse and I have made about buying a home, a vehicle, clothes—where we can afford to work and live—has essentially been made for us because of our student loan debt,” Wordell said.

“My foster parents received no benefits, but loved and cared for me because it was the right thing to do. I relied on the kindness of others to have a place to live and pay other expenses.”

—Andy Wordell

Writing to us earlier this year, she said: “I have worked in social services for many years—never less than 50-80 hours each week—and am now considering another profession because I cannot survive financially … We need help.”

This isn’t a story about just Andy Wordell needing help.

Wordell’s story is the story of 40 million Americans. And this is how hundreds of thousands of people like her are making their voices heard, pushing their elected officials, and winning some important fights on an economic issue that’s crippling our country.

When Elizabeth Warren first decided to run for Congress, she too was ready to fight.

The Massachusetts Senator has focused much of her life on helping those struggling with debt, from her days as a bankruptcy lawyer to her conception (and eventual tenure at the helm of) the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has advocated for stronger protections for education loan borrowers. Her résumé dotted with efforts to help middle-class Americans, Warren wasted no time in the Senate addressing student debt.

In May 2013, less than six months after Warren had been sworn into the Senate, and her colleagues were focused on whether to allow interest rates on student loans to double.

The previous year, Congress had extended the 3.4 percent interest rate on undergraduate loans after thousands of young Americans led a grassroots effort to prevent the hike.

Yet, here we were again.

So Warren took a bold move: She suggested students pay the same rate as big banks. The media was in a tizzy. Here was a first-term senator, with her first piece of stand-alone legislation, calling for a radically lower interest rate on federal student loans. But her message resonated, and millions took to her new catchphrase: “Bank on Students.”

“The American taxpayer is investing in [big] banks,” Warren said, in a floor speech that May. “We should make the same kind of investment in our young people who are trying to get an education. Lend them the money and make them to pay it back, but give our kids a break on the interest they pay. …

Unlike the big banks, students don’t have armies of lobbyists and lawyers. They have only their voices. And they call on us to do what is right.”

For years, advocacy groups have worked to address the

rising cost of college, and they enjoyed an enviable amount of attention on the issue. We knew that the cost of college was pricing many Americans out of a degree, and leaving millions more with massive amounts of debt. For-profit colleges became a quick target, and investigations uncovered their deceptive recruiting tactics, failing degree programs, and troubling job placement rates. State legislatures, too, took serious heat for slashing public funding for higher education and, in effect, prompting tuition hikes at many state schools and public colleges.

But while Generation Progress worked tirelessly to keep college affordable for every American who wanted a degree, including lobbying against cuts to the Pell Grant program, another massive problem was growing.

By early 2013, student debt had topped $1 trillion, exceeding the level of credit card debt in the U.S., and borrowers throughout the country were sharing their debt stories.

As borrowers spoke up, a new picture of the average student loan borrower emerged. People began to grasp that student debt isn’t just a youth issue and, in fact, more than 60 percent of education debt is held by Americans over the age of 35.

At some point, the quiet conversation about student debt’s economic impacts had started getting louder and louder. Now, we were practically shouting it from the rooftops. Borrowers were sharing their stories, with friends, neighbors, and the media. They couldn’t afford to buy a car, and they couldn’t imagine ever having the funds to buy a house. They couldn’t take a job that related to their degree or advanced their career because it meant being unable to make the monthly payment on their loans. They were trapped, crippled under this massive student loan crisis.

In early 2014, this conversation on economic consequences finally found a home with a new campaign called Higher Ed, Not Debt. More than 60 organizations were on the roster

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand explains why student loan refinancing legislation is commonsense.

(Photo courtesy of Senate Democrats.)

Senator Al Franken urged his colleagues to listen to the more than 300,000 petition signatures in favor of refinancing student loans to give everyone a fair shot to afford college. (Photo courtesy of Senate Democrats.)

“Borrowers with tens of thousands of dollars in debt are unable to purchase homes, start families, obtain employment in certain fields, and save for retirement. It’s time to address this problem in full force.”

—Anne Johnson

at the effort’s launch, including labor groups like the AFLCIO and the American Federation of Teachers, to think tanks like Demos and the Center for American Progress, to youth advocates like Young Invincibles and the United States Student Association.

Even Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy arm of the watchdog magazine Consumer Reports, joined efforts.

Anne Johnson, Executive Director of Generation Progress, noted at the launch of the campaign that it is common for homeowners, banks, and even local governments to refinance their debt at lower rates or better terms, but Americans have no option for refinancing federal student loans. And, she said, “elected officials are starting to take notice.”

“Student loan debt has severe and visible impacts on the American economy,” Johnson said. “Borrowers with tens of thousands of dollars in debt are unable to purchase homes, start families, obtain employment in certain fields, and save for retirement. It’s time to address this problem in full force.”

As Andy Wordell speaks in the Capitol, she’s flanked by Warren and some of her colleagues who have endorsed her Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act. In front of the cohort is a long table, piled high with stacks of petitions. It’s the day before the Senate will vote on whether to consider Warren’s latest student debt proposal, and advocacy groups had collected more than 300,000 signatures in support of the concept. Experts in Washington knew that 8 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

Warren’s proposal was facing a big obstacle: it would be paid for by implementing the Buffett Rule, designed to ensure millionaires and billionaires pay the same tax rate as middleclass Americans.

And earlier in the week, President Barack Obama had endorsed the bill and signed an executive order that expanded income-based repayment to 5 million additional Americans.

“I want Americans to pay attention to see where their lawmakers’ priorities lie here,” the Obama said. “Lower tax bills for millionaires or lower student-loan bills for the middle class. This should be a no-brainer.”

“My story is one example of millions of Americans who have found themselves in the same financial position,” Wordell said. “We may have taken different paths, but in the end we are all being penalized for our decisions to make dreams come true and make a better life for ourselves and families.”

Warren’s bill failed to gain the 60 votes needed to come up for debate, but three Republicans did vote in support of the proposal: Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Bob Corker of Tennessee, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Despite the setback, Warren said in a press conference that her fight to help student loan borrowers was far from over.

“We’re not giving up,” she said bluntly. “Homeowners are refinancing. Small businesses are refinancing. We just want young people who got an education to have their shot.”

Building Student and Worker Power to Kick Corporate Greed Out of Higher Education www.studentlabor.org

Five Reasons

Expanding Apprenticeships Will Benefit Millennials

Stars of the new era for Apprenticeships campaign. (Left - right) Former building apprentice, Sam Fairgrieve, from Leicester who works for builders Jelson Homes. Tolu Shobande from London who works for SEC Recruitment. Shane Allum, from BT Operate, based in Farringdon, Oxfordshire.

Robyn Keating, who works for insurance brokers Bluefin, from Hornchurch, Essex. Nisar Ahmed from Bradford, who works for local housing association Incommunities. (Photo Courtesy of Flickr/ National Apprenticeship Service.)

By Sarah Ayres Apprenticeships might sound as if they come straight out of the Middle Ages, but there is nothing medieval about the wage premiums and career opportunities that young Americans can gain from them. Apprenticeships are a structured form of paid worker training that combine on-the-job learning and classroom instruction. They have been shown to boost workers’ earnings and raise sponsoring companies’ productivity levels, which is why many other countries rely on them as a central tool to develop a highly skilled, competitive workforce. But even though the U.S. Department of Labor administers a small system of registered apprentices, the training model is largely unfamiliar to Americans.

An apprenticeship is a job in which the worker is paid to learn a set of skills through on-the-job training. Unlike an internship—in which the intern works for little or no money and rarely receives formal training—an apprenticeship follows an earn-while-you-learn model and leads to a nationally 10 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

recognized credential that recipients can take anywhere in the country. Today, there are 358,000 registered apprentices in the U.S.—just seven percent of the number of apprentices in England after adjusting for population size. If the United States had as many apprentices per capita as Germany does, our system would support almost 7 million apprentices.

The bulk of America’s apprenticeships today are in skilled trades, but the model can be adapted to many industries and occupations. Apprenticeships are well established in the construction industry, and there are many high-quality programs for electricians, carpenters, plumbers, and pipe fitters. The concept of a formal, paid training program can be applied to almost any occupation. For example, nearly every medical doctor participates in an apprenticeship of sorts; during their internships and residencies, doctors receive on-the-job and classroom-based training along with their salaries. England has overhauled its apprenticeship program in recent years, expanding its occupational reach so that a majority of new British apprentices now choose programs in

the service sectors, such as business administration and retail.

Expanding the U.S. apprenticeship system both in number of participants and available occupations would strengthen the American economy by helping businesses meet the demand for skilled workers while offering workers higher wages and better employment outcomes. Such an initiative would especially benefit Millennials, who are struggling with disproportionately high unemployment, low-wage jobs, rising college costs, and spiraling student debt. Apprenticeships can create promising new pathways for young workers to wellpaying, middle-class jobs.

Below are five ways Millennials would benefit from the expansion of apprenticeships.

1. Apprenticeships Are Jobs.

Unlike most interns, apprentices are paid employees who earn a paycheck for their work. Apprentices’ wages typically start at about 50 percent to 60 percent of their eventual wages, and their pay goes up as they progress through their programs and master more skills. Moreover, because training is part of the job, apprentices do not have to forgo income from employment in order to pursue education and training. An apprenticeship provides a young worker with an immediate job, steadily rising wages, and a gateway into a successful and sustainable long-term career. This is especially important for Millennials, as the unemployment rate for Americans under age 25 is still nearly 15 percent—more than double the national rate of unemployment.

2. Apprentices Earn Higher Wages.

Completing an apprenticeship dramatically raises workers’ wages. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, workers who complete an apprenticeship earn an average starting salary of $50,000. Researchers have found that workers who complete an apprenticeship make an average of $240,037 more than comparable job seekers in their lifetimes; if nonwage benefits are included, that number jumps to $301,533. The wage premium for apprentices will especially benefit young workers, who are significantly more likely than older workers to have a job that lacks sufficient pay.

3. Apprentices Gain An Education With Little Or No Debt.

In many apprenticeship programs, apprentices can earn college credit for their coursework and on-the-job training.

This credit can lead to an associate’s degree and, depending on the industry, may also contribute to a bachelor’s or master’s degree. Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana, for example, has developed an initiative in which workers who are enrolled in one of several apprenticeship trade programs can obtain

an associate’s degree or technical certificate using credits earned for time spent on the job. Nationally, about onequarter of apprentices report that they have participated in a community college or vocational program in the last year, and an additional 30 percent report that they have taken a nondegree course in the past year, such as one offered by an employer. The prospect of debt-free education is particularly appealing to Millennials, who are facing college costs that have increased 250 percent in the past three decades and an average student-loan balance of $25,000.

4. Apprenticeships Provide A Pathway To Middle-Class Jobs Even Without A Four-Year Degree.

Apprenticeships offer high school graduates a path to a well-paying, middle-class career that does not require them to obtain a four-year degree. Today’s high school graduates must consider record-high college costs and the possibility of taking on an overwhelming amount of student debt— often without sufficient information to confidently evaluate the quality of colleges. At the same time, few students and their parents are aware that apprentices can achieve a long-term career and a substantial wage premium without a college degree. Too many Americans mistakenly believe that earning a four-year degree is the only way to achieve economic mobility, with surveys now indicating that almost all high school graduates plan to earn a bachelor’s degree.

But fewer than half of these students actually complete a bachelor’s degree. One-third of 2012 high school graduates were not enrolled in college by October of that year. Of those who do seek a bachelor’s degree at a four-year institution, 40 percent do not complete a degree at that institution within six years. Too many of these students are left with the burden of student debt and without the economic benefits of a degree.

Expanding awareness of apprenticeships can open the door to an alternative career pathway for high school graduates without precluding further postsecondary education.

Apprenticeships would benefit Millennials by providing those who do not go to or finish college with a viable path to the skill development that will allow them to earn higher wages.

5. Apprenticeships Grow The Economy By Making Businesses More Competitive.

Employers who sponsor apprentices gain skilled workers, reduce employee turnover, and improve productivity.

Apprenticeships can also help businesses address any critical or expected shortages of skilled labor at a time when many businesses are reporting that they cannot find skilled workers to fill jobs.

Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress | 11

From Newtown To The White House Sarah Clements speaks during a panel at the White House honoring Champions of Change for gun violence prevention.

(Photo courtesy of The White House.)

Meet the daughter of a Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher fighting for her generation’s future by preventing gun violence.

By Sarah Clements Over a year and a half ago, a shooting occurred at my mother’s workplace—Sandy Hook Elementary School. And earlier this year, President Barack Obama committed to taking action to reduce gun violence during his State of the Union address to Congress.

“Citizenship means standing up for the lives that gun violence steals from us each day,” President Obama said.

“I have seen the courage of parents, students, pastors, and police officers all over this country who say ‘we are not afraid.’”

President Obama perfectly summarized why our generation is fighting for our country’s future. Americans quite literally cannot escape this hell.

Every day, more are added to this club that no one wants to be a member of—those who know what it feels like to suffer through gun violence. I am going to college in the Fall, and I would be lying if I said the chances of a campus shooting happening while I’m at school never crossed my mind and sent chills down my spine.

Millennials are most disproportionately affected by gun violence, and if trends continue, gun violence will be the leading cause of death for young Americans next year. Last year, I began working with the Generation Progress team to focus on this problem.

There was a growing movement around gun violence prevention, especially following Newtown, but students 12 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

were not necessarily at the forefront of the conversation. We needed to be.

This February, Generation Progress held its first-ever summit in Washington, D.C. on gun violence prevention.

More than 120 Millennials from 34 states, representing 40 youth organizations came to learn, discuss strategy, and come up with campaign plans to work on this issue back home or on campus. Millennials are done waiting for Congress to do the right thing, done witnessing our friends’ fates determined at the barrel of a gun.We are done just talking. Members of our network have put on events and summits back home, participated in Twitter rallies for our own #fight4the33 initiative and continue to pressure elected officials to do the right thing.

We are done resorting to the same repetitive rhetoric we hear from polarized sides in Congress. We are done asking for a solution, and we are done waiting for our history to be written for us. We’re ready to write.

As Millennials, we are ready to stand up and speak for our friends, whether Jordan Davis, or Trayvon Martin, or Heaven Sutton, or Ben Wheeler, or Claire Davis, or the other hundreds of young Americans killed every year from guns, who can no longer speak for themselves.

We are done thinking of ourselves as different just because our ZIP codes are hundreds of miles apart. We know that our stories might be different, but we want the same positive change to come from our tragedies; we want to honor those

lost with positive action so their lives are not lost in vain.

This year, the White House honored nine grassroots advocates working on gun violence prevention in every type of community out there, and I was honored to be one of three Millennials recognized as a White House Champion of Change for Gun Violence Prevention.

I do not think it is a mistake that the White House recognized so many young people for the award this year, for, once again, Millennials are more affected by gun violence than any other age group—according to recent research, 33 individuals a day.

On the streets of Chicago and Atlanta, and in schools in rural Colorado and Texas, young Americans are taking charge.And this idea is so perfectly displayed by the three young Americans the White House recognized this year.

Jamira Burley, co-founder of GenYNot and leader of the Philly Youth Commission; John Woods, grassroots organizer in Texas; and myself, from Newtown, CT. It’s not a mistake that the White House chose the three of us, three young Americans who had vastly different experiences with gun violence and who have different strategies on addressing the issue in our respective communities. We are all part of this larger movement that we all recognize is bigger than us, bigger than our individual work.

As President Bill Clinton once said, “It is not for us to say when we go and how long we stay. But what we do depends on how we think… Sometimes, the only thing we can do is resolveGeneration to liveProgress a more meaningful life. That is what we have.

2014 Make Progress National Summit 4.5w x 5.5t color.pdf That is the ultimate rebuke to any negative event that happens to us.”

Joseph T. Hansen International President Anthony M. Perrone International Secretary-Treasurer

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William T. McDonough Executive Vice President Patrick J. O’Neill Executive Vice President Paul R. Meinema Executive Vice President

CONGRATULATIONS The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union proudly supports the 2014 Generation Progress Make Progress National Summit.

We salute Generation Progress for their hardwork and dedication inspiring young people to promote progressive solution in key political and social challenges.

www.ufcw.org

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC 1775 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006-1598

Sarah Clements talks with White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett after the White House’s Champion of Change ceremony. (Photo courtesy of The White House.)

1

We have to win this.

For the sake of our friends, for the sake of young Americans, for the sake of the children that will come after us. This issue of gun violence is difficult to work on because the lives we’re saving are so tangible, so real, so full of stories and potential and promise. When people are shot and killed, that can be calculated and reported and seen.

But our success in fixing this problem is the absence of numbers, and the number of lives we save are estimated, only compared to the number killed at the same point in time the year before.

We must strive for the absence of numbers and names.

Consider joining our network and taking action on your 6/16/2014 4:20:14 PM campus or in your community.

Lives depend on it, and we’re running out of time.

Jamira Burley (far right) joined her gun violence prevention activist peers at the White House honoring Champions of Change for gun violence prevention.

(Photo courtesy of The White House.)

One Woman’s Loss From Gun Violence Taught Her How To Transform That

PAIN INTO POWER

By Jamira Burley We live in a world that constantly tells young people that “we” are the future, and in doing so, we forget about the contribution that young Americans can make today.

However, young people cannot make that immediate or eventual difference if there are endless barriers to their success.

Since the murder of my brother Andre in 2005, I have worked to prevent my peers from experiencing the same

14 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

adversities that I did. Whether that means training the next generation of city leaders through my job at the Philadelphia Youth Commission, or meeting with members of Congress regarding common-sense gun legislation.

My entire life, I was surrounded by people who could not see beyond their own zip code; people who did not know how to be more because no one in their family ever was.

That is why I am honored and appreciative to be selected as a White House Champion of Change for Gun Violence Prevention this year.

“My brother’s death set the foundation for the work that I devote my life to, but I also recognize that this bigger than even Andre. ”

—Jamira Burley

I accept this recognition not for myself but for every person who stands beside me in this work.

We recognize, that everyone is affected by gun violence, and if we are going to prevent another young American from losing his or her life to the barrel of a gun, we have to work together.

I had the pleasure of building and collaborating with young people from all over the country in February at a national youth summit on gun violence prevention with Generation Progress in D.C. The summit gathered more than 120 Millennials from Newtown, CT, to Chicago, IL, and it was really one of the first times for youth to look at violence from a holistic point of view.

Now, we are more prepared to advocate on issues of gun violence, not just as an urban problem but as a national problem—a human problem.

Nine years ago I did not choose this work. It chose me.

I like to think that I was a pretty normal student. Like many, I faced my own share of adversities, but nothing I thought I could not handle—even after the repeat incarcerations of both my parents and all 10 of my older brothers. That is, until I received a phone call that changed not only the way I viewed the world, but also my place within it.

My brother Andre was murdered a month before his twentyfirst birthday. Since Andre’s murder, stories like his continue to happen every single day in our country.

Where young people are dying before they are even old enough to vote; where the price of leaving your home may mean death. Our streets are battlegrounds, where we have made kid soldiers out of our youth, criminals out of the disadvantaged, and funeral attendees out of all of us.

Thirty-three young Americans die every day because of guns. Guns are becoming more accessible than textbooks and supermarkets. Yet, we continue to serve them up to the unfit and unqualified, resulting in mass murders and mass shootings. So I ask: what can and must be done?

I have had the privilege of helping to lead the Philadelphia youth engagement strategy for the National Forum for Youth Violence Prevention and Cities United. Cities United is an initiative created by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D) and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (D), with a goal to reduce the homicide rate for men and boys of color. Through this work, Cities United has partnered with more than 50 different mayors, foundations, and federal agencies across the country.

My brother’s death set the foundation for the work that I devote my life to, but I also recognize that this is bigger than even Andre. We can no longer sit on the sidelines and allow gun lobbyists to place band-aids on gunshot wounds.

The time for change is now. The body count continues.

Gravesites do not lie and bullets end lives but we can change that, we can do something about it.

Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress | 15

Sarah McBride speaks at the signing of Deleware’s Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Act of 2013. (Photo Courtesy of Sarah McBride.)

Fighting For Fairness In The Workplace

By Sarah McBride Following college, my dream had always been to move back to my home state of Delaware to live, work, and have a family. But when I came out as transgender during my junior year at American University, I feared that this dream and my identity were mutually exclusive.

This was 2012 and, at that point, Delaware was one of the 34 states where it was legal to fire someone, deny them housing, or throw them out of a restaurant simply for being transgender. As I entered my senior year and prepared to graduate, I worried that I had to choose between going home to my family and friends or being safe and secure.But if coming out taught me anything, it was that my dreams and my identity were only mutually exclusive if I didn’t do something about them.

I believed then, like I believe now, that all people, particularly young people, have the power to change our communities for the better. So in January of 2013, I joined the board of directors of Equality Delaware, our state’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) advocacy organization, to begin the process of lobbying our legislature to make sure that transgender people were treated with dignity and fairness.

Over the next several months, a coalition of transgender Delawareans, many of them young people, traveled to our state legislature daily to meet with State Representatives and State Senators to advocate for passage of basic protections from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression.

We found our most powerful advocates for fairness were high school and college students entering or preparing to enter the workforce, fearful that their home state would neither want to protect them from discrimination nor utilize their talents and skills. That spring was an incredible season for LGBT 16 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

people and our families in Delaware. On the Tuesday before I graduated from college, our legislature passed, and Governor Jack Markell (D) signed, marriage equality into law. And just two weeks later, the Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Act of 2013, which would add gender identity and expression to our state’s pre-existing non-discrimination laws, was formally introduced. Following another month of daily meetings, two committee hearings, and three floor debates and votes in the state legislature, our bill reached Markell’s desk without one vote to spare.

Governor Markell, not wanting to waste a single day, signed the bill into law immediately.

On that day, Delaware became the seventeenth state, in addition to Washington, D.C., to provide basic protections

from discrimination to transgender people. Since then, Maryland has passed similar legislation. Recently, President Barack Obama took a landmark step in June of 2014 when the White House announced that he would issue an executive order banning discrimination against LGBT workers by federal contractors. The order, which is the single largest expansion of LGBT employment protections in our country’s history, has the potential to extend federal workplace protections to roughly one in five LGBT workers.

Yet, in 2014, it is still legal to discriminate against transgender people in 32 states and against gay people in 29 states. And despite the exciting action taken by President Obama, the overwhelming majority of LGBT workers still lack explicit federal protections from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. This lack of basic protections has significant consequences for LGBT workers, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet.

As many as 43 percent of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people report experiencing some form of discrimination or harassment in the workplace; 26 percent of transgender people report having been fired from a job simply because of their gender identity; 90 percent have experienced harassment, mistreatment, or discrimination in the workplace. But that can change.

This past November, for the first time in history, the U.S. Senate passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would expand federal workplace protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

The U.S. Senate vote reflected the overwhelming public support for the measure, with 10 Republican Senators joining every Democratic Senator in voting yes.

The bill now sits in the U.S. House of Representatives awaiting a vote. While the legislation faces long odds in the House of Representatives this year, we know that this fight is too important to give up. We’ve never been so close to ensuring basic workplace fairness for LGBT Americans in all 50 states.

The Senate has acted and President Obama has promised to sign the bill.

Having seen the power of individual stories in Delaware, I know that we have the ability to make ENDA a reality, whether by calling or writing our representatives or having our voices heard in the upcoming midterm elections.

It has been just over a year since I, along with dozens of young transgender Delawareans, stood in the Governor’s office to watch him sign our non-discrimination bill into law. Many of those young advocates had courageously made their voices heard, with little basic protections at the time, so that they could know that the state they love, loved them back. But one advocate, in particular, reminds me of the amazing power that one individual young person has to make a difference.

His name is Matthew. He’s a 23-year-old transgender man who, at the time, had not begun living as his true self and was still in the closet to his colleagues, most of his friends, and

all of his family. Yet despite this, Matthew was confident and determined to help pass our non-discrimination bill.

As fate would have it, Matthew lived in the district of a Republican Senator who we hoped would end up supporting the bill. Matthew was the one person from that Senator’s district who felt comfortable coming down to talk to his legislators. So just one day before testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Matthew came out to his family. The very next day, he met with and told his story to that Senator.

We needed 11 votes to pass gender identity protections.

When Matthew went into his Senator’s office, we had 10.

When he left, we had 11.

When it came time for the final vote, that Senator stood up on the floor of the State Senate and provided the decisive vote that ensured that all transgender Delawareans were treated fairly.

In large part because of Matthew and other young people from across the state, I know that when it comes to being safe and secure in the state I love, my dreams and my identity are not mutually exclusive. As young people, we have the opportunity to make that a reality for all LGBT people across this country. It’s time for every American to be treated with dignity and fairness, regardless of where they live, who they are, or whom they love.

Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress | 17

When 1 in 5 college women have been sexually assaulted, in many lecture halls survivors often feel completely

ALONE.

18 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

The Hidden Crisis On College Campuses

By Hannah Finnie

As the latest graduation season came and went this past Spring, the traditional mortarboards worn by graduates were adorned with a new addition—bright red tape spelling “IX.” Simultaneously referencing the gender-equity provision Title IX and red-tape bureaucracy, students from Brown, Stanford, and many schools in between came together in repeating a rallying cry: “red tape won’t cover up rape.”

The refrain and accompanying red tape tactic were originally used at Columbia University in 1999 and 2000, when a group of 23 students took federal action against their school for what they viewed as a systematic failing to support survivors of sexual assault. In addition to their federal complaint, activists plastered the names of accused rapists in bathroom stalls across campus and tried to stage a protest at an event for prospective students, which was promptly shut down.

Despite the decade that has passed since the original Columbia protests, 1 in 5 women are still sexually assaulted while in college, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

In response to the campus sexual assault epidemic, which President Obama deemed an affront to decency and humanity, the Obama administration formed the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault in January, with a comprehensive report entitled Not Alone.

It has four main goals: to identify the scope of campus sexual assault; to help prevent sexual assault; to ensure that schools are responding effectively when sexual assault does happen; and to enhance federal enforcement efforts.

Vice President Joe Biden recently explained the need for increased involvement from the White House and told Time: “If you knew your son had a 20 percent chance of being held up at gunpoint, you’d think twice before dropping your kid off. Well, my God, you drop a daughter off, it’s 1 in 5 she could be raped or physically abused? It is just outrageous.”

Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress | 19

In 1990, the government began its first large-scale effort to address the college sexual assault epidemic by passing the Clery Act. The law, which is also known as the “Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act,” was passed by Congress after Jeanne Clery, a student at Lehigh University, was raped and murdered in her college dormitory. It specifies procedures that colleges must follow regarding resources and treatment of sexual assault survivors. A student who believes his or her school has violated the provisions set forth by the Clery Act can file a report anonymously to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

Unlike the Clery Act, however, complainants of Title IX cannot maintain anonymity. Title IX is a more recent addition to the toolkit students can use against their schools if they believe it to be mishandling claims of sexual assault. Under the Obama administration, the muscle behind Title IX’s application to sexual violence has been strengthened. What was once known primarily for its part in reducing gender inequality in college sports is now being used to combat sexual violence on college campuses.

The Department of Education sent a letter to colleges across the country in 2011 warning them that inadequate responses to sexual assault allegations would constitute violations of Title IX, and, potentially, loss of federal funding. On May 1, 2014, the Department of Education released for the first time the list of schools under investigation for failing to comply with Title IX. The list includes 55 colleges and universities.

Although the White House task force and its report have been met with enthusiasm from anti-sexual assault activists, its recommendations will ultimately go un-implemented in many schools unless they are mandated by law.

For that to happen, Congress needs to take action. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are leading efforts, but will need support from their colleagues in Congress to turn any of their ideas into law.

For now, students and young people across the country are the ones making substantive improvements on their college campuses to stop sexual assault before it happens, and to ensure that when it does, schools are helping survivors, not their own reputations.

A CULTURE IN CRISIS On the 168-acre campus that saddles the Charles River outside Boston, Vanessa, an undergraduate student at MIT (a pseudonym for her privacy), is anxiously preparing to present at a poster session required for class. As Vanessa stands next to her 5’ x 3’ poster a professor approaches, and her presentation comes and goes, but the professor isn’t done yet.

“Why are you such a bad presenter?” he asks. “Were you abused as a child?”

While Vanessa refrains from responding, her professor continues anyway, reasoning to himself aloud that she couldn’t have been abused as a child because she had turned out “normal.”

Vanessa has nightmares so vivid that she once fell out of her bed in terror and injured her back.

But for Vanessa, the nightmares aren’t only at night.

She frequently has panic attacks and experiences symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She no longer enjoys an active social life like the one she used to have. These days, she doesn’t even like talking to people all that much. She has trouble 20 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

“When I went to report to my college dean, he encouraged me to go home, get a job at Starbucks, wait for my assailant to graduate, and then return to campus when it was safe.

In other words: to take time off from my education so that my rapist could comfortably conclude his. At the time, I thought that what my dean said wasn’t particularly nice or ethical, but I didn’t know it was also against the law.”

—Dana Bolger recognizing herself as the same person she was before.

Before she was in an abusive relationship where she was repeatedly sexually assaulted and raped.

Before she tried to get academic accommodations from MIT and found herself neck-deep in an abyss of bureaucracy that seemed more worried about protecting itself than protecting her.

It took her a long time to realize that their relationship was neither normal nor acceptable.

While her assaulter doesn’t go to her school, it was in the classroom where she made the connection.

After learning more about sexual assault in college, she began to see parallels between what she was learning about and her own relationship.

“Whoa, this is really creepy,” she thought to herself. “A lot of this stuff is sexual assault. That’s rape.”

The relationship ended soon after.

She started experiencing panic attacks and symptoms of PTSD that made it harder and harder for her to keep up with her classwork. She went to MIT’s Student Support Services, or S3, as many MIT students call it.

“I wanted to make sure I could get academic accommodations,” she explained.

“The end result was not that I got help but that I got reported to a bunch of other offices,” Vanessa said about her experience with Student Support Services.

Still, at one of her meetings with S3, she decided to bring along her academic adviser.

“Oftentimes, things don’t go well for you in meetings,” she said. So she wanted a third-party representative to be present at

the meeting.

Two days after the meeting, she got a call from the Dean of Student Support Services telling her she could no longer speak to her adviser about anything related to her sexual assault.

The dean said it would be a “conflict of interest” for the adviser. The professor couldn’t properly advise her on class choices while simultaneously helping her fight to get the academic resources she needed, he told her.

“I mostly just lost my right to speak to my advisor,” she said. “We are forbidden from speaking.”

Her professor received the same call. Vanessa suspects the dean chose to call rather than say, email, so there would be no physical record of the message.

Dana Bolger speaking at a Senate roundtable on campus sexual assault She eventually filed a Clery report, which is (Title IX Roundtable DiscussionSubcommittee on Financial & Contracting Oversight. different than making a Title IX claim.

(Photo courtesy of Flickr/Senator Claire McCaskill.)

A Clery report allows the petitioner to maintain anonymity and is more about systematic failings of a school’s treatment and resources for survivors of sexual assault.

Title IX addresses specific complaints and requires the A CALL TO ACTION complainant to give his/her name.

There was no one scandal that prompted Nowmee Shehab, 22, to Vanessa chose to use the Clery Act because she wants to go to graduate school at MIT and thought that a public Title IX complaint become heavily engaged in efforts at Emory University to create a supportive environment for survivors of sexual assault. She readily would hurt her admission chances. acknowledges that she doesn’t have a single, all-encompassing “After I filed my complaint, not much happened,” she said.

She wrote an anonymous article for MIT Tech, the campus answer to the question of why she first got involved.

Elizabeth Neyman, 21, will be a senior at Emory this year and newspaper. She’s heard that the Department of Education requested information from MIT, which she interprets as a positive signal said that she “noticed that there weren’t adequate resources for survivors” and “wanted to be a part of the solution.” Still, it was that something is happening. more of a gradual recognition than a striking epiphany.

“I was expecting very little and I got very little,” Vanessa said.

Both got involved not because of a specific horrific incident or She remains frustrated at how convuleded the system is, and how it doesn’t seem like it’s designed to actually help students like her, a less-than-adequate university response, but instead because they both saw a widespread issue and were determined to make a but instead to protect the school from liability.

“You basically need to go in with a copy of Title IX and highlighted difference.

A series of high-profile colleges and universities mishandling sections,” she said.

She adds that she was lucky she knew that going in but isn’t sure reported sexual assaults, the newly-created White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, and strong what other people would do in similar situations.

“I don’t know how many other students need help but don’t know organizing efforts from students across the country thrusted the issue of campus sexual assault into the national spotlight. anything,” she said.

Shehab and Neyman are, just two of the many students who In the end, it seems like Vanessa made all the right choices.

She knew the difference between a Clery report and a Title IX have capitulated their campuses into action. Still, the tangible claim and was able to protect her anonymity on campus as well as changes they have produced, alongside the less tangible but no less important transformations in conversations and attitudes, show her chances at graduate school.

She brought her advisor with her to one of her meetings to serve the change-making power of Millennials.

Neyman, for one, helped organize a group on her campus called as a witness in case anything went awry.

The Department of Education seems like it’s investigating MIT, at Sexual Assault Peer Advocates (SAPA). Just a few years after the least partly as a result of the report she filed. Still, she says, she does group’s inception, they’ve trained nearly 2,000 students on what to say, what not to say, and how to support survivors of sexual assault. have one regret: bringing an untenured professor to her meeting.

That figure is all the more impressive considering that SAPA “I probably should have brought a tenured professor,” she said. almost never existed. When its founders originally approached She’s worried about the effect this could have on his career.

He hasn’t said anything to Vanessa to indicate as such, but then Emory’s student government to become a chartered organization, they were asked skeptically asked what made their club different again, he’s not allowed to.

Unfortunately, not everyone understands the system as well from another group on campus that focused on prevention efforts.

SAPA concentrates on helping survivors, but some members of the as Vanessa.

Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress | 21

student government weren’t buying it.

Eventually, they were able to convince the hesitant members of the student government, and SAPA was born.

Shehab, meanwhile, was a coordinator for RespectCon, an annual conference at Emory that focuses on sexual violence. Originally founded in 2013, this year’s conference was themed Sexual Violence Prevention through a Social Justice Lens.

Simultaneously, Shehab led efforts to increase conversations about sexual assault within Emory Pride and worked as a programming assistant at the Center for Women on campus.

Neyman helped reform Emory’s sexual misconduct process.

Originally, the same people who decided if a student who was caught cheating or imbibing would be suspended also dealt with sexual assault charges. The new policy changes this, because the intricacy of sexual violence requires that people be familiar with the subject to handle it well. Additionally, Neyman has worked with Emory University Hospital, which serves tens of thousands of patients in the Atlanta area each year, to ensure that survivors of sexual assault who come to the hospital will have the resources they need. Starting in August, Emory University Hospital will offer increased resources to every survivor of sexual assault that walks through its doors.

Neyman and SAPA are also pushing for minimum sanctions on students who are found guilty of sexual assault.

The typical sentence, she noted, is a one-semester suspension, and no one convicted of sexual assault has been expelled in the last nine years. Of course, processes aren’t everything.

Neyman said that survivors of sexual assault have emailed administrators asking if their assaulters were returning to campus, only to be repeatedly ignored. That’s why Neyman and other activists have worked hard to transform attitudes on campus, because changes in policy, while an important and necessary step, will not solve everything.

Shehab agrees that there’s still room for improvement.

“Rape culture is not something people think about a lot,” she said.

She points out the irony that many people feel comfortable telling a rape joke, but not talking about consent.

“There’s still a stigma attached to talking about consent,” she said.

Problems like these are why the recent report from the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault is so

“If you knew your son had a 20 percent chance of being held up at gunpoint, you’d think twice before dropping your kid off. Well, my God, you drop a daughter off, it’s 1 in 5 she could be raped or physically abused? It is just outrageous.”

—Vice President Joe Biden

22 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

important. While Neyman noted that she has already worked on implementing some of the recommendations from the task force, she also said that the she “has never felt this affirmed or validated.” Shehab, who’s spending the summer interning for Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) through the Victory Congressional Internship program, said it’s “really awesome that the White House acknowledged the severity of the issue.”

Although the issue is attracting more and more attention across the spectrum, from the White House and others, Shehab noted that “it’s not like sexual violence has just increased. It’s always been there.”

Despite this fact, it’s hard to ignore the recent increase in awareness, media attention, and government resources being devoted to the issue. And when you ask yourself why, it’s difficult to imagine similar progress being made without the efforts of young people like Neyman and Shehab, who have helped propel campus sexual assault into the national discourse.

While Shehab is still figuring out what she plans on doing after graduation, she’s sure that she’ll remain involved with the issue.

“Everyone is affected by sexual violence. And it’s everyone’s job to prevent it,” she said.

A NEW GENERATION OF LEADERS Dana Bolger, 23, wasn’t aware of the ins and outs of sexual assault reporting policy when she was raped and stalked by a fellow student while attending Amherst College.

“When I went to report to my college dean, he encouraged me to go home, get a job at Starbucks, wait for my assailant to graduate, and then return to campus when it was safe,” Bolger said. “In other words: to take time off from my education so that my rapist could comfortably conclude his. At the time, I thought that what my dean said wasn’t particularly nice or ethical, but I didn’t know it was also against the law.”

That’s what Bolger and Alexandra Brodsky, 24, set out to fix when they founded Know Your IX, an organization created about a year ago.

The organization is a campaign that, according to its website, aims

This is, of course, in addition to her studies as a psychology major.

After talking with various administrative officials, Vogel chose to file a report through the Dean of Students office, which would then be heard by the Sexual Misconduct Board.

“I endured 90 days, a quarter of a year, of waiting and agonizing over what would happen,” she said.

Eventually, after an emotionally taxing process, Vogel’s attacker was found responsible.

The hearing then moved to the sentencing stage; he was mandated to spend 20 hours in counseling to discuss relationships and alcohol consumption Katie Akin, a graduate student member of the UNC Title IX and he could not go to a select few locations Task Force, talks to Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday (Feb. on campus, like her eating house (similar to a 18) during the first “listening session” of the White House Task sorority) and dormitory.

Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault.

Vogel was, to say the least, disappointed by (Photo courtesy of University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.) the outcome, which she described as a slap on the wrist.

But she doesn’t like to dwell on the past and has to “educate all college students in the U.S. about their rights under instead focused her energy toward reforming the Title IX. Armed with information, sexual violence survivors will present sexual misconduct policy at Davidson. be able to advocate for themselves during their schools’ grievance “Being raped and going through the sexual misconduct process proceedings and, if Title IX guarantees are not respected, file a stripped me of my sense of agency. Working to help change the complaint against their colleges with the Department of Education’s process means that even if the student who assaulted me is still on Office for Civil Rights.” campus, other survivors will have a better shot at justice. It gives Both Bolger and Brodsky, along with many members of the Know me my power back,” Vogel said. “Working to create change means Your IX staff, are survivors. While Know Your IX is both run and that maybe all of my suffering wasn’t for nothing. This isn’t a very driven by survivors, Bolger says they’re also trying to expand the noble reason to get involved, but it’s an honest one.” movement to include more queer survivors, survivors of color, and This spring, Vogel drafted a petition with two other students survivors from different strata of the socioeconomic spectrum. that included specific proposals to improve Davidson’s sexual Bolger graduated from Amherst this year misconduct policy. The suggestions were wide-ranging, from and now works for Know Your IX full time. incorporating a minimum sentence of a one-semester suspension Brodsky, who graduated from college in 2012, balances her studies for any student found guilty of sexually assaulting or raping another as a student at Yale Law School with serving as the other Founding student, to conducting a survey of the campus to get a better idea Co-Director of Know Your IX. of what needs are and are not being met with regard to the school’s Although the organization is in its infancy, its founders have sexual assault policy. been incredibly successful in garnering attention from the media Vogel and the other two creators of the petition had an initial goal and the public at large, making concrete strides in public policy of 500 signatures, or a quarter of the 2,000-member student body at surrounding campus sexual assault, and, most importantly, Davidson. Within two days, they had 1,000 signatures. providing survivors of sexual assault with the information and Now, with the help of the broader Davidson community, they’re resources they need to make informed choices. at 3,000.

“Schools are treating this as a PR problem, as an image risk to be They delivered the petition to the Dean of Students and to the swept away so that, in the high stakes games of college rankings college president. Soon after, the dean and the president sent an and university branding, they don’t scare off prospective students email to the entire college announcing that Davidson will launch or alumni dollars,” Bolger said. “They treat survivors like liabilities a task force in the fall to consider the reforms Vogel and others to be managed, mitigated, and swept aside.” proposed in the petition.

Bolger, however, has refused to be “swept aside.”

As for the future, Vogel isn’t sure what’s next. Her career plans are So has Susanna Vogel, 20, a college student at Davidson College still up in the air, but she does want to spend some time working in North Carolina, who wrote an article for Her Campus Davidson with survivors of sexual violence. One thing is definite, though: and is helping improve her school’s sexual assault misconduct she’s returning to Davidson this Fall. policy after she was raped her Junior year.

“I’m coming back to Davidson,” Vogel said. “I refuse to let him Vogel’s assortment of extracurricular activities reads like that of take anything else from me. Davidson offers a great education and someone who never sleeps: she’s the Vice President of the Davidson fantastic opportunities. I will see the accused student frequently. It Women’s Action Committee; former president of Changing Minds, will be hard.” a mental health awareness group; Student Solicitor for the Honor “But my life has to go on and changing location will not fix the Council; member of Turner Eating House, and director of the 2013 damage that has been done,” Vogel said. “I need to move forward Vagina Monologues and V-day efforts at Davidson. not, run away.”

Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress | 23

Every year over 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school but only five to ten percent of them will enroll in higher education and an smaller percent actually graduate. Over 550,000 of the 1.7 million eligible undocumented young people have received their DACA or become “DACAmented.” Undocumented students who wish to enroll in a public college or university face out of state tuition costs almost 60 percent higher than their peers.

Like most students, Pedro Tadeo Garcia worries about balancing schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and a social life. However, he also has to deal with something else most students in higher education never have to think about— being undocumented.

Garcia came to the United States from Mexico as a child and grew up in the Valley, a region at the very tip of Southeastern Texas along the Mexican border. After graduating high school, Garcia enrolled in Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas about a six hour drive from his home in the Valley.

Like many students, Pedro took advantage of in-state tuition rates for undocumented students in the state’s public colleges and universities, about 60 percent lower than out of state costs. The Texas DREAM Act, signed into law by Governor Rick Perry (R) in 2001, allows students unable to prove U.S. citizenship to establish residency if they graduated from a Texas high school, have lived in the state for three years before applying to school and sign an affidavit indicating their intent to apply for permanent residency status as soon 26 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

as possible.

Additionally, Texas is one of only four states in the country that also allows undocumented students to access state financial aid. Under the 2005 expansion of the Texas DREAM Act, Pedro also received access to TEXAS Grants, a need-based grant program that helps cover tuition and fees at most institutions and is only available to Texas residents.

However, despite the assistance from the state of Texas, Pedro still remains locked out of federal financial aid programs that help hundreds of thousands of other students pay tuition.

Undocumented students are still banned from receiving any federal financial aid, including Pell Grants, work study, or federal loans. For the 2013-2014 school year, the maximum Pell grants helped cover more than 30 percent of higher education related costs for students. Undocumented students, however, have had to find creative ways to fill the gaps.

“I’ve had to take semesters off to make sure I can keep paying for my school. It’s not just tuition, higher education is

expensive. I have to pay for books, food, and housing and I can’t ask my parents for help,” Garcia said. “Since I don’t have DACA, oftentimes I get home from school and I have to go to work where I can find it.”

DACA is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that began in 2012 after months of protesting by young people to demand that President Obama provide relief to immigrant youth. The program provides some people who arrived in the U.S. as children the ability to receive a work permit and get a social security number.

Although DACA does not confer any lawful immigration status, it does allow immigrant youth protection from removal action and a chance to participate more in the job market.

Without DACA, however, Pedro has had a more difficult time navigating the challenges of higher education. Pedro qualifies for the program, but is still waiting to hear back from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the branch of the Department of Homeland Security that manages the program. Pedro’s brother however, has already received his DACA and Social Security number, making Pedro’s wait even more confusing.

“My brother didn’t wait long to hear back for his DACA. We both used the little financial resources we had to get lawyers to help with the long application,” Garcia said. “It’s frustrating, but all I can do is wait and hope I get my DACA before I graduate so I can get my work permit and start my career.”

Some undocumented students have turned to other institutions to complete their higher education. Citlalli Alvarez is a student at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and is currently a DACA grantee. Georgetown University is a private university and charges the same tuition rate for all students regardless of their immigration status.

Citlalli came to the US as a child and grew up in Houston, Texas. Although Texas provides access to financial aid and in-state tuition, Citlalli chose to attend Georgetown because it was one of the only schools that really met her financial need.

Some private institutions are able to provide greater financial resources to undocumented students that help cover their costs of attendance. At Georgetown, Citlalli has had access to private scholarships that are available to students through the Georgetown Scholarship Program, and she is one of over a dozen undocumented students that are currently enrolled there.

However, costs are not the only barriers undocumented students face in higher education.

“For me, there’s still a lot of precarity associated with employment, both while in college, because many colleges do not know they can hire DACA recipients, and of course the options are even more limited for undocumented students without DACA, but also after graduation,” Alvarez said. “We can’t take advantage of the same career opportunities or

Medina Arias hopes to follow in the footsteps of his mentors and achieve higher education despite the setbacks in his state.

(Photo courtesy of Medina Arias)

professional networks, and looking for a (legal) job can be difficult.”

Additionally, undocumented students can face a greater mental health and emotional stress burden. For many undocumented students, they are the first in their family to attend higher education and many of their parents are still undocumented and live below the poverty line.

“Another challenge that I think often goes unrecognized involves serious mental health issues associated with the stress and reality of undocumented existence,” Alvarez said.

“Too many of my friends have hesitated to seek help because they fear no one will understand, or because they can’t afford the care.”

These stories are not unique and affect more than 2.5 million undocumented young people in the country. Every year over 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school but only five to ten percent of them will enroll in higher education and an smaller percent actually graduate.

These students are caught in the crosshairs of American immigration politics and their future could be decided by a couple of lawmakers in their state capitals and Washington, D.C. Over the past couple of years, undocumented immigrants have faced some of the harshest anti-immigrant policies at the state level including S.B. 1070 in Arizona and H.B. 56 in Alabama. These policies have made life difficult for thousands, including students.

In Montana under L.R. 121, which went into effect in 2012, the state denies state services and benefits to anyone who cannot prove their citizenship or legal status. It requires employees of the state to check into the immigration status Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress | 27

Chavez graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in social work with his peers. (Photo courtesy of Chavez.)

of anyone applying for certain types of state services or benefits. If immigration status cannot be confirmed, the law requires employers to report this to immigration authorities.

The law explicitly denies admission and financial aid to undocumented students.

These kind of policies have made higher education almost impossible for thousands of students, including Juan Carlos Medina Arias, a student in Arizona.

Arizona currently prohibits undocumented students from receiving in-state tuition at public colleges and universities and bars them from receiving any state financial aid for higher education. Undocumented students who wish to enroll in a public college or university face out of state tuition costs almost 60 percent higher than their peers.

Juan Carlos came to the United States with his father as a child and grew up in Phoenix. He recently graduated from high school and will enroll in Phoenix College for the first couple of years of his higher education. Unlike four-year colleges, community colleges in Arizona allow undocumented students to enroll with in-state tuition rates.

“I want to study public health and gender studies. Ultimately I’m interested in preventing HIV/AIDS in my community and I hope to do this kind of work in the future,” Medina Arias said. “Although Phoenix College is supportive and relatively cheap, I can only get my Associate’s degree there,

and I would eventually have to transfer somewhere and unfortunately I cannot afford to go to one of my state’s public schools.”

Even with the in-state tuition rate at Phoenix College, Juan Carlos will have to work full time to pay his tuition and outside costs.

“I have DACA so I’m currently looking for a job to help save money this summer. I’m also going to have to work throughout school to make sure I can keep my costs low. My dad is very supportive of me, but there is only so much he can do to help.”

Currently, 21 states provide some sort of in-state tuition rate for undocumented students. Some, like Maryland, Illinois, California, Florida, and Texas have passed legislation to make sure undocumented students are covered under their state residency provisions while in other states like Hawaii and Michigan, the Board of Regents of the largest university systems have allowed lower rates and access to some institutional financial aid following pressure from undocumented students and allies.

Still, however, the majority of states in the country have no explicit legislation regarding undocumented students in higher education. While states like Arizona, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama currently limit enrollment or access to in-state tuition for undocumented students, other

“It’s frustrating, but all I can do is wait and hope I get my DACA before I graduate so I can get my work —Pedro Tadeo Garcia permit and start my career.”

28 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

states like North Carolina allow undocumented students to enroll in public higher education institutions at out of state rates. A feat made almost impossible for the near 50 percent of undocumented students whose families live with incomes below 100 percent of the federal poverty level.

Additionally, some states like Virginia only allow students with DACA to receive the preferential rate.

Over 550,000 of the 1.7 million eligible undocumented young people have received their DACA or become “DACAmented.” In some states enrollment into the program has been limited by lack of information and a high financial burden. The DACA application fee is $465 and must be renewed every two years to make sure young undocumented people don’t lose their work permit and Social Security number. This has put great strain on students that are already stretched thin with other costs.

“I have to renew my DACA this year, and it is definitely an expense that is adding to my stress,” Alvarez said. “I have friends that can’t afford to even apply for DACA in the first place much less be able to renew and I know some students forgo eating to save up money for their application.”

Additionally, many states have different policies regarding the DACAmented. In Nebraska, undocumented students have access to in-state tuition regardless of if they are DACA grantees. However, the state, along with Arizona, currently bans undocumented immigrants, including those with DACA, from getting driver’s licenses. These policies have put these states at odds with most other states in the country and end up hurting undocumented young people.

“Even though I have DACA, I still cannot get my driver’s license. Most of my friends in other states have gotten their licenses and are now able to drive and get to work. Arizona doesn’t have a good public transportation system, so I have to rely on someone to drive me around and that limits my work options,” Medina Arias said. “It just seems weird to me that the Arizona government continues to target undocumented youth in the state for no reason.”

For students like Garcia, waiting for their DACA can have serious effects on their lives. Although Texas provides instate tuition and financial aid, this has not been enough to cover the costs of higher education. Without a work permit and without the ability to get student loans because of his immigration status, Garcia has had to rely on friends for help.

Garcia took out a $9,000 loan to help pay for his last year of college, which was co-signed by one of his best friends who happened to be born in the United States and is therefore a

Juan Carlos Medina Arias recently graduated from high school in Arizona and will enroll in Phoenix College to complete his prerequisite requirements before hopefully transferring to a four year university.

(Photo courtesy of Juan Carlos Medina Arias.)

citizen.

“It’s hard to find work without DACA so I’ve had to rely on a couple of odd jobs,” Garcia said. “I need my work permit as fast as possible to start working after graduation and pay back my loan. I don’t want it to become a problem for my friend that has helped me out financially.”

Additionally, lacking DACA status has prevented Garcia from returning home during college. Between the Valley of Texas and the upper part of the state, Border Patrol operates multiple road checkpoints to check the immigration status of drivers heading north. After leaving the Valley for the first time, Garcia knew it meant he would not see his family for multiple years as he attempted to complete his education.

“My home is about six hours away from my campus, but I couldn’t go home for over three and a half years,” Garcia said.

“Without DACA I can be stopped at any point.”

Right next door, however, California has been expanding resources and opportunities for its large undocumented population. California is home to almost 600,000 undocumented youth and, like Texas, California immigrant youth have had access to in-state tuition and financial aid

“We can’t take advantage of the same career opportunities or professional networks, and looking for a (legal) job can be difficult.”

—Citlalli Alvarez Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress | 29

Jesus Chavez works to engage the Latino/a community in DC for issues relating to LGBT identities and HIV/AIDS. (Photo courtesy of the Latino GLBT History Project.)

since 2001. This had allowed thousands of undocumented young people to reach higher education and begin working once they received their work permits through DACA. Additionally, California allows undocumented immigrants access to driver’s licenses, some health benefits, and recently passed the TRUST Act which limits local law enforcement’s ability to interact with the federal Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement’s programs that have led to the removal of thousands of immigrants that would have otherwise qualified for the Senate-passed immigration reform bill in 2013.

These benefits have already become clear in California.

Although the state’s percentage of the total undocumented population in the country has been shrinking as more immigrants move to other parts of the country, California still accounts for almost half of all undocumented students enrolled in higher education. And many institutions of higher education in the state have paved the way for creating supportive campuses for all students regardless of immigration status.

Jesus Chavez is a 2013 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and came to the United States with his family as child. Chavez grew up in a small agricultural town of the Central Valley of California and received enough scholarships to attend the four-year university.

Berkeley currently operates the Undocumented Student Program, which provides guidance and support to undocumented undergraduates. In 2012, the university received $1 million to support scholarships for undocumented students. For students like Chavez, the extra support helped

fill in the gaps that the state government could not.

Scholarships and financial aid can help cover some costs, but for many students, these sources of funds can dry up as they reach the later years of their education. It is not uncommon for some undocumented students, even those in the most supportive states to work full-time or become homeless to avoid paying room and board.

“I worked full-time but had emotional and health problems when I didn’t know where the next funds for my education would come from,” Chavez said. “If you don’t have the money, then you get registration blocks, and then you can’t add classes for the next semester or you have to drop out.”

The support from the Undocumented Student Program helps students deal with many of these challenges, and more schools are starting to take notice. Similar programs at the University of Texas, Austin and the University of California, Los Angeles are engaging in similar outreach to the hundreds of undocumented students on their campus that are excluded from any federal benefits for students.

Now working, Chavez has been able to take advantage of the resources provided by the state of California and a work permit through DACA. Still though, Chavez has to worry about renewing his DACA every two years and not everyone in his family has benefited.

“I’ve been able to work, but this isn’t a permanent solution,” Chavez said. “I have many family members that don’t qualify for DACA and have seen more people being deported under the Obama administration.”

Despite these challenges, undocumented young people have

“It’s frustrating, but all I can do is wait and hope I get my DACA before I graduate so I can get my work —Pedro Tadeo Garcia permit and start my career.”

30 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

been pushing the country to act. As Congress continues to stall on comprehensive immigration reform and the number of deportations reach record highs, undocumented youth all over the country have pushed local, state, and federal governments to improve the lives of the over 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country. In 2014 alone, undocumented students successfully won in-state tuition in New Jersey, Florida, and Virginia and access to state financial aid in Washington State.

After successfully pushing President Obama’s administration to provide relief from deportation through DACA, undocumented young people are now pressuring Obama to act for their families. One of the biggest worries for undocumented students is knowing they are in school or gone from home while their parents are still vulnerable to removal at any point.

“I have been told my entire life to wait - for as long as I can remember. In my world, there is no ‘back of the line,’” Alvarez said. “For some families, families like mine, the ‘line’ is more like an endless black hole. There’s currently no way out. Immigrants are here, we have parents, children, partners, friends, hopes and dreams. We’re the past, present, and the future of America. It’s time Congress and the White House to face up to that fact.”

As the debate goes on, expect to see undocumented young people take the lead in redefining the role of higher education in our economy. By the year 2030, the percentage of the workforce made up of immigrant workers will reach its highest point in history and many policy makers are starting to see the benefits of making sure young undocumented immigrants are prepared to enter the workforce when a comprehensive immigration reform bill passes.

Until then, undocumented students and their allies will continue to push at all levels to make sure their campuses are welcoming to all students and they receive the same financial support as others. Next on the list is access to Pell grants for the DACAmented.

“The administration can take the steps to expand Pell grants for undocumented students. The current immigration bill the Senate passed would still exclude us from the program for five years, too much time for students and young people that are just getting started in their lives,” Garcia said. “Pell

JCitlalli Alvarez and Georgetown administrator Cinthya Salazar participate in National Educator Coming Out Day for Undocumented Students. (Photo courtesy of Georgetown Center for Multicultural Equity and Access.)

grants and DACA would have completely changed my life in school and I want all of my community to benefit from in the future.

Even after years of exclusion, undocumented young people have pushed themselves to the front of American political discourse.

Overall, young people in this country are more likely to support pro-immigrant policies, with 61 percent of all Millennials supporting in-state tuition policies, much higher than other generations.

Expect to see greater change coming up.

“For some families, families like mine, the ‘line’ is more like an endless black hole. There’s currently no way out. Immigrants are here, we have parents, children, partners, friends, hopes & dreams. We’re the —Citlalli Alvarez past, present, and the future of America. ” Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress | 31

FROM OUR CAMPUS JOURNALISM NETWORK

Ukraine: Eyes On The Ground These photos originally appeared in Buzzsaw, a student publication at Ithaca College that receives funding and training as a member of the Generation Progress Journalism Network. The Ukrainian protests have been all over the news, but little attention is paid to the people who live there and experience the effects of this revolution day to day. See what Kiev’s Maiden Square looks like on the ground.

ABOVE: Hotels and business headquarters are new neighbors to the tents where protestors sleep in the Maidan square in downtown Kiev.

By Daniela Schmiedlechner

The whole world now knows of the hardships the Ukrainian people have been facing and of Russia’s ongoing threats to Ukraine. It has been difficult to fully focus on my studies in the United States while my family is currently living in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, stuck in the middle of this conflict. According to RT News, it began in November 2013 when students peacefully protested upon hearing of former president Viktor Yanukovych’s last minute decision not to sign an agreement to integrate Ukraine with the European Union, and instead signing a pact with Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. Everything changed from the moment police were ordered to violently break up protests.

32 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

ABOVE: A man wearing typical traditional Cossak attire in Maidan Square.

RIGHT: The form for the Christmas tree set up in the center of Kiev was covered with flags, posters and a giant picture of Yulia Tymoshenko before the city’s officials were able to decorate it. Tymoshenko is a Ukrainian politician who co-led the Orange Revolution in 2004 and was Ukraine’s first female prime minister.

BELOW: A graffittied poster of Putin is displayed in the square.

Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress | 33

Five Minutes With

Kathleen Sebelius

(AP/Brennan Linsley.)

After serving five years as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Kathleen Sebelius defied her critics and championed health care reform with the success of the Affordable Care Act‘s (ACA) initial open enrollment period.

By Douglas Bair With this initial open enrollment now closed, are there still chances for young Americans (such as those turning 26 who can no longer stay on their parents’ plan) can still enroll through the Marketplaces?

Not only can those who age-out of coverage on their parents’ plans continue to sign up, there are several circumstances in which others may be able to sign up on the Marketplace throughout the year. Basically, if you lose your insurance because your life situation significantly changes, like getting divorced or changing jobs, these “qualifying life events” allow you to go to the Marketplace and shop for a new plan.

Other events include graduating and losing a school’s health insurance, moving out of an area of coverage, certain changes in your income, or a new immigration status.

Additionally, members of federally recognized Native American tribes and people who qualify for Medicaid can sign up at any time.

You traveled to many states during this open enrollment period. What big things did you hear from young people about the ACA? We tend to think that young adults don’t get covered because they don’t believe that they’ll ever get hurt, but many of the ones I met wanted health insurance. They just didn’t think they could afford it. Thankfully, most of those same young people found great prices on the Marketplace. And they told me the same thing I heard from people of all ages, that affordable coverage was a relief. No one wants to have to worry about how they will pay for a sports injury or avoid a needed checkup because they can’t afford it.

34 | Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

A lot of young Americans loved President Obama’s interview with Zach Galifianakis on Between Two Ferns. Can you talk about these unique efforts to reach out to young Americans?

Young Americans have the highest rate of uninsurance and are the least likely to have employer-based insurance, so Affordable Care Act provisions like lowered premiums and preventive care at no extra cost are even more beneficial to them. So it was very important to reach that group and we wanted to use every tool we had.

Most young Americans use social media and pay attention to actors and athletes. We had lots of celebrities who were eager to help in any way because they believe in the President and in the importance of expanding health care. Using humor or sports stars or Hollywood talent to get the attention of young Americans just makes good sense. And it worked: traffic to the site shot up 40 percent after “Two Ferns” was released, reaching nearly 900,000 visits the day it was released.

As you reflect on your years in public service as both a governor and cabinet member, do you have any advice for young Americans who aspire to serve their country in similar capacities?

Public service isn’t an easy career path to take, and it’s one that can be full of sacrifice and challenges. But the reward is that sometimes you really do get to change the world.

As with any field, the formula for success is lots of hard work and some luck along the way. More than anything, though, you have to be an optimist. It’s easy to become a cynic, but it’s harder—and far braver—to believe that progress is possible.

Having the courage to try and make America better is the only way we’ll ever get there.

Obamacare Will Continue To Benefit Young People At #EnrollmentMoments

By Anne Johnson Today, we know that more than 8 million Americans—and 28 percent of those 18 to 34—have gained health insurance through the exchanges.

In fact, it’s important to know that young people will likely have more changes to enroll than older generations.

Young people, and the Millennial generation in particular,

lead more fluid lives. We’re typically faced with important life decisions—like a new job or starting a family—at a more frequent rate than older Americans.

That means many of us will continue to have opportunities to get covered or find a new plan that’s right for us.

We’re calling these #EnrollmentMoments.

Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress | 35

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