Gonzaga student gov prez issues call to 'RESIST' DACA decision
Gonzaga University’s student body president recently issued a call to “RESIST” President Donald Trump’s controversial decision to revoke DACA.
In a statement posted to Facebook, Carlo Juntilla declares that “as a student of this institution,” it is his “duty to stand in solidarity with our DREAMers in fulfillment of our mission statement.”
[RELATED: UGA prof calls Trump, Sessions ‘racists’ for repealing DACA]
“The decision to end DACA contradicts the principle of equality amongst all students and challenges our commitment to preserving the dignity of human persons,” he continues, providing his peers with a list of ways in which they can protest the decision, including contacting their local senators.
Additionally, he notes that students can text “RESIST to 50409,” a text bot that generates a message to be faxed to those senators.
“I am calling upon the student body to remain civically engaged throughout this tumultuous period in our nation’s history,” he concludes. “I encourage each of you to remain obligated to our Jesuit tradition by using our voices to challenge the notion that DREAMers and immigrants are unwanted members of our society.”
Juntilla explained to Campus Reform that the statement was written in continuation of the Gonzaga Student Body Association’s (GSBA) theme for the new school year, which is one of “inclusivity, accountability, and belonging.”
“So all of our staffers are integrating those themes into the work they’re doing,” he added, noting that “moving forward” he hopes to complete some of the work that was started during the previous academic year, which included plans to launch an “Undocumented Student Scholarship.”
[RELATED: University of Miami offers full scholarships to DACA students]
“Moving forward, we want to continue the work that was done last year by GSBA and ensure the Undocumented Student Scholarship is finalized,” he explained. “In addition, we want to connect all of our DACA recipients with the resources they need to feel comfortable on our campus.”
Notably, Juntilla claims to have the full support of University President Thayne McCulloh, who “voiced in his DACA response that he plans on working with GSBA to fulfill our promise to the vulnerable members of our community.”
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