President Kaplan sent the following message to the University of New Haven community
on Tuesday, September 5:
Dear Campus Community,
Along with so many others in our University community, state, and nation, I was saddened
and disappointed to hear the news that President Trump rescinded the Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy today. For the past five years, DACA has represented
an immense amount of hope and promise for 800,000 undocumented minor immigrants and
their families.
Those affected by this seismic shift are grappling with the new reality that awaits
them. Despite their hard work and sacrifices, the pursuit of their dreams in our nation
hangs in the balance. We must not equivocate in our support for them. My own wife
is an immigrant to this great country, and each day I am reminded of the countless
contributions she has made to her community and to this university. Her story joins
scores of others that speak to the power and influence of immigrants in the United
States.
As an institution of higher learning, we open wide our doors to all, regardless of
background, ethnicity, or creed, and we will stand for the underrepresented and underprivileged.
Many of those who have benefited from DACA have done so to pursue their education.
As an institution of higher learning, we open wide our doors to all, regardless of
background, ethnicity, or creed, and we will stand for the underrepresented and underprivileged.
Our commitment to accessibility and opportunity for all cuts to the core of who we
are at the University of New Haven. As we do for all of our students, we will work
tirelessly to support all those who seek to fulfill their dreams here.
Together, with countless other college and university presidents, I urge our legislators
to come together and produce a solution for the hundreds of thousands of individuals
who are impacted by this rollback. Dreamers represent the quintessential American
pursuit of happiness, and it is our nation’s leaders’ responsibility to protect those
pursuits. As this policy reversal unfolds, I encourage you to write and call your
legislators, imploring them to create a way forward for these true Dreamers.
My sincerest thanks goes to our entire community for the strides already made in addressing
the DACA decision. The past 24 hours alone have reaffirmed to me how special the University
of New Haven is, and how unrelenting our community is in supporting one another. Together,
we will continue our important work of achieving true inclusivity.