THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011
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DREAMERS
MICHAEL ERKELENS — THE SANTA CLARA
Santa Clara gives 25 undocumented students the opportunity of a lifetime. But what comes next? Kurt Wagner
The Santa Clara Manuel’s* dorm room is simple. No electronics. No clutter or clothes on the floor. No posters of millionaire athletes or bikini-clad supermodels. In fact, the room is void of any decoration at all, except for dozens of brightly colored sticky notes hanging carefully on the wall surrounding the bedroom door. Dozens more grace the side of his armoire, adding vibrant pinks, blues and greens to the room’s otherwise white, barren walls. “Te Amo,” meaning “I love you” in Spanish, is the message emblazoned upon most of the brightly colored squares, a daily reminder from Manuel’s girlfriend, and decorating consultant. The room may be simple, but what it lacks in décor, it makes up for in meaning. “I’ve never had the opportunity to have my own room to decorate, so I don’t really know how to,” chuckles Manuel, 22, as he leans back in his wooden desk chair. “And then whenever I want to or get in the mood to, I
don’t really have the money.” It is late May and Manuel, an undocumented immigrant at Santa Clara University, is less than two weeks from graduation. He had never had his own bedroom before coming to Santa Clara. After crossing the U.S.-Mexican border using his cousin’s passport at age 3, Manuel spent the next 15 years sharing a bunk bed with his older sister while his mom and two brothers slept on the floor of their family’s bedroom in an apartment in Southern California. The three-bedroom apartment, which housed three families and 14 people in total with one bathroom, seems like a far cry from Manuel’s single dorm room overlooking Santa Clara’s beautifully manicured campus. A few strides from the window, Manuel crouches down to remove a black guitar case from under the bed, a gift from his brother nearly four years ago. He opens the case to reveal a black acoustic guitar, the small white logo of his and his brothers’ favorite Mexican rock band, “Jaguares,” printed on the soundboard. The guitar is one of Manuel’s
most prized possessions, but the gift came with a catch: Manuel could keep it only if he came back from Santa Clara with a college diploma. And thanks to the Santa Clara Jesuit Community’s million dollar scholarship program for undocumented immigrants, Manuel and 24 other undocumented students have been given the opportunity of a lifetime. But U.S. citizenship – and a job after graduation – still rest upon a dream.
The Scholarship Manuel didn’t believe Lorenzo Gamboa when he first called to tell him about Santa Clara’s scholarship program for “students like him.” Nor did he believe him the second time. Or third. “They kept calling and insisting,” said Manuel. “My mom was like, ‘Tell them thank you so much, but no thanks.’” But when Manuel finally called back to politely decline the funding he was almost certain he couldn’t legally accept, his life was changed forever.
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Manuel was one of 25 undocumented immigrants enrolled at Santa Clara last year on a full needbased scholarship sponsored by the university’s Jesuit community. The scholarship fund, which helps provide tuition, room and board for approximately four incoming freshmen and one transfer student or current Santa Clara upper classmen yearly, has an annual budget of over $1.2 million. This year, the scholarship program has retained its size and continues to provide scholarship funding to 25 undocumented immigrants. Gamboa, the Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissionsat Santa Clara, works very closely with the incoming scholarship students, and is responsible for contacting the eligible students by phone. “Educational institutions were founded to educate those who want to be educated,” said Gamboa. “(It’s) not just for those who have citizenship.” Many universities have some sort of scholarship established for undocumented immigrants, includ-
ing the University of San Francisco, Harvard, Dartmouth, Seattle University and Occidental. But the program at Santa Clara is unique in that it is believed by many to be the most expansive and developed program of its kind within institutions of higher education. The scholarship money available at other universities is usually for one student, said Gamboa. At Loyola of Chicago, undocumented students can complete a form through financial aid to be considered for private Loyola grants, but according to admissions counselors, that is the only assistance currently available. Other Jesuit institutions like Boston ColSee UNDOCUMENTED, Page 3
*Editor’s note: Undocumented students’ names have been changed to protect their privacy.