Loyola Marymount University (LMU) located in the city of Los Angeles, California, announced that they seek to create a Dream Center to offer advice and support to undocumented students.
LMU authorities announced that the university campus will have a Dream Center, a space designed to promote support and services for undocumented students of the university. This center would start operating in the fall of 2023.
“In the Latinx community, we have been, for a long time, asking for a series of things, and among those demands was the Dream Center,” explained Dr. Cecilia González-Andrieu, a professor at the university, who has also advocated for scholarships for students. undocumented.
In spring 2023, a director or director will be elected and appointed for this Dream Center, whose tasks will be to supervise that this space meets the demands demanded by the Dreamer community of the university.
On December 12, LMU executives held a work meeting for the planning of the Dream Center. “One of the biggest challenges in creating and establishing a Dream Center is the vulnerabilities of the constituents that will be served by the space,” Chancellor Thomas Poon explained.
Recognizing the vulnerability of the undocumented student community, Dean of Students Terri Mangione explained that they can get the number of students who would benefit from the Dream Center, but prefer not to announce it publicly.
What is necessary is to identify the students who have access to Deferred Action (DACA), and those who cannot be beneficiaries. “That's hard because we want to keep people safe, but we also need to know who we're trying to help and how big the population is for undergraduate and graduate students,” Mangione explained.
“The immigrant community at LMU is probably much larger than students realize and affects people of all races and ethnicities much more than they realize. These types of resources prepare you for your life after LMU,” said Leonardo Domínguez Ortega, a psychology and sociology student, who goes by Dreamer.
On the other hand, Poon explained that the Dream Center will also provide opportunities for fellows to be rewarded in the learning opportunities in which they participate.
