3:2 issue

Page 1

Wake the Beautiful offers bodypositive events for students Page 4

Opinion: Gender-role billboard generates controversy Page 8

Deacs upset No. 8 Louisville Page 12

Uber driver creates healthy tonic water drink Page 14

Old Gold&Black WAKE FOREST’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1916

VOL. 101, NO. 8

T H U R S DAY, M A RC H 2 , 2 017 “Cover s the campus like the magnolias”

www.wfuogb.com

DACA recipients grow fearful of increased enforcement With threats of more enforcement, undocumented Wake Forest students grow wary of their futures BY ELLIOTT MCKOY Contributing Writer mckoed13@wfu.edu

Amanda Wilcox/Old Gold & Black

In a moderated conversation with Melissa Harris Perry (left), John King, Jr. explained the moments that encouraged him as a student, a teacher, a principle and eventually secretary of education. While the discussion focused on his past, it also looked to the future of education.

Former Secretary sparks conversation

John King, Jr., former secretary of education, shared moments about education that inspired him BY AMANDA WILCOX Asst. News Editor wilcaf16@wfu.edu Former Secretary of Education John King, Jr., a career educator who served during the final year of the Obama Administration, spoke about the future of public education on Feb. 24 at Wake Forest. The open discussion was moderated by Melissa Harris-Perry and hosted by the Anna Julia Cooper Center. King spent his career advocating for educational equity by concentrating on the achievement gap and opportunities for low-income students, students of color and English language learners. “John King is a genuine educator; enthusiastic about how teachers and students are changed when they encounter one another with openness to new ideas and experiences,” Harris-Perry said in a Wake Forest press release. “Although he

is no longer leading the Department of Education, he remains a leading voice in American education at a time when the future of public schools is in deep turmoil.” Throughout his career, King has frequently remarked that his New York City teachers “saved his life” by turning his school into a refuge after his parents died when he was a child. “Whatever was going on at home, at school I was able to be a kid," he said. "If you don’t have those supports, your life can go in a different direction. I could be dead, I could be in jail, but I’m not." The prominence of his public school education throughout his formative years inspired King to found and lead charter schools in Boston, serve as the New York City commissioner of education and eventually join the federal Department of Education in 2014. “Schools can be a powerful force in young people’s lives and can help them get on the right path or the wrong path,” King said. “As educators we need to treat this with tremendous urgency.” King emphasized the “daily renewal of

faith” inherent in the teaching profession that inspired him to become a lifelong educator. For example, he recounted the story of one of his former students, named Ricardo, who rarely participated and scarcely passed with a 59 percent grade average, which rounded up to a 60 percent. However, Ricardo was “on fire” about a project on political leader and proponent of the Pan-African movement Marcus Garvey. King said he supported Ricardo as he created “seven or eight drafts” and discovered the inspiration to work to ameliorate his academic situation. “The student said to me, ‘One of the things I wished I’d known as a ninth grader that I know now is how to do school,’” King said. This experience inspired him to become a middle-school principal so that he could have impactful interactions with students at an earlier age. Furthermore, King commented on recent education-related policy changes within the Trump Administration,

See Secretary, Page 4

You have only ever known one place as home. All your memories, experiences, friends and family are in this one place. Now imagine being told you or your parents are not authorized to be there and will be removed and taken to a far-off, unfamiliar land. For some, this is a scene from a nightmare, but for others, this is their impending reality. In response to growing concerns about his re-election and widespread protests against the detaining and deportation of undocumented immigrants, President Obama announced an Executive Order in June 2012 for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Under DACA, those eligible would be able to attain renewable work permits, gain a social security card, a driver’s license and achieve job placement without being considered illegal. To date, it has provided more than 750,000 undocumented minors security from removal and the ability to work. “I remember hearing about President Obama’s announcement and being excited because I hadn’t previously followed immigration news,” said an undocumented student who asked to remain unnamed. “My excitement, however, quickly became disappointment when I realized the executive order didn’t consider my parents or older brother in those who could qualify for DACA.” Throughout his campaign, President Donald Trump used the issue of undocumented immigration to label immigrants as guilty of crimes, posing threats and stealing American jobs, all while promising to deport the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the country and cancel the DACA executive order. On Tuesday, Feb. 21, Trump signaled his intention to keep DACA in place, a change to his previous stance. Instead, he chose to focus on punishing parents responsible for bringing their children to the country unlawfully. Until Tuesday’s announcement, Trump’s actions toward immigration faced widespread response across the nation from companies’ Superbowl ads, CEOs issuing company-wide statements reaffirming support for all people and university faculty and administration.

See DACA, Page 5


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.