UCLA’s Undocumented Alumni Association Tuesday, December 14, 2021
From Inside Higher Ed: Alumni Groups Support Undocumented Graduates An undocumented graduate of UCLA created an alumni association to help undocumented alumni navigate the challenges of life after college. Now other institutions are following suit. By Maria Carrasco, Dec. 13, 2021
When Yadira Hernández Pérez graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2015, she faced many questions common among new graduates, such as how to save for retirement, how to apply for graduate school and which health-care benefits to choose. But Hernández Pérez, an Indigenous Mexican from Puebla, also found herself wondering about a whole set of other issues related to her undocumented status in the U.S.: Should she disclose her lack of a green card during job interviews? And how could she find mentors? As a first-generation college graduate, she couldn’t turn to her family for advice. So in 2017, she created UCLA’s Undocumented Alumni Association to help other undocumented graduates navigate the unique challenges they face in adapting to life after college. The association holds social events for undocumented alumni, connects alumni with faculty members and offers guidance on legal issues from visa status to securing a job without a work permit. The association also facilitates meetings between undocumented alumni and potential employers and provides career counseling and information about graduate programs. Most importantly, Hernández Pérez said, the association allows undocumented alumni to share their struggles and stories with each other. “One of the reasons I started the association was definitely a response to the antiimmigrant political climate that was happening” after the 2016 election of Donald Trump, 230
UCLA Faculty Association Blog: 4th Quarter 2021
