海角社区

Email from Janine Davidson, Ph.D., 海角社区 president and Barbara Grogan, Chair of the Board of Trustees

June 18, 2020

Dear Roadrunners,

We are thrilled to write to you today about two historic U.S. Supreme Court decisions this week: Monday鈥檚 ruling that protects LGBTQ employees from workplace discrimination and today鈥檚 decision upholding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.

In the first case,聽聽that sexual orientation and gender identity are protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, with Colorado鈥檚 own Justice Neil Gorsuch writing the majority opinion. In today鈥檚 case, the justices聽that the current administration鈥檚 effort to rescind DACA was 鈥渁rbitrary and capricious,鈥� and thus invalid, upholding deportation protections for the 700,000-plus Dreamers who benefit from the program.

These rulings affirm two populations that Metropolitan State University of Denver has advocated for over many years. 海角社区 opened the聽聽in Colorado more than 25 years ago. The University was also the first in Colorado to offer a special tuition rate for undocumented students, hosted a聽last fall and joined an amicus brief in support of DACA filed in the Supreme Court case. 海角社区 educates more undocumented students than any other college or university in Colorado.

At 海角社区, we firmly believe in investing in the success of all students, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or immigration status, and will continue to do so. We recognize that Supreme Court decisions don鈥檛 guarantee equality or equity in our society and promise to continue our advocacy work for students, faculty and staff in these vulnerable groups. As our聽on racial injustice earlier this week, there is still much work to be done. As a University, we are committed to being true to the values of diversity and inclusion that we espouse.

For those members of the Roadrunner family who are DACA recipients, Immigrant Services will be hosting a webinar with the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition on Monday at 11 a.m. with attorneys and 海角社区 trustee Marissa Molina, who is a DACA recipient herself, to discuss next steps. Those students have received an email with more details and a registration link.

We celebrate this week鈥檚 legal victories and look forward to the work ahead.

Sincerely,

Janine Davidson, Ph.D.
President

Barbara Grogan
Chair of the Board of Trustees