UF administration agreed to meet with a group of students next week following a rally they held for opportunity outside Tigert Hall on Thursday.
The local Students for a Democratic Society organization partnered with other campus groups to ask UF to consider granting undocumented in-state students in-state tuition regardless of their immigration status.
“Undocumented students are told in high school that they can work hard and earn their way up, but that hope is shut down as soon as they graduate,” said Chrisley Carpio, 21, a UF history senior and lead SDS organizer for the event.
Regardless of how long they lived in Florida, undocumented students are charged either international or out-of-state tuition fees to attend UF.
This past summer, Florida International University passed a tuition equity policy that will provide in-state tuition for students under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which helps undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children.
“We are the flagship school in Florida, but we are falling behind,” Carpio said.
She organized the event to encourage the UF Board of Trustees to consider passing a similar policy at an upcoming meeting in December.
“Historically, this has happened over and over again,” said Farah Khan, a UF English and sociology sophomore. “One group of people is taking education away from others.”
Khan is the vice president of external affairs for UF’s Students for Justice in Palestine. The group participated in the rally along with student members of CHISPAS and La Casita.
“Undocumented students are being kept in their place with the limited job opportunities that come from having no higher education,” Khan said.
A version of this story ran on page 9 on 10/18/2013 under the headline "UF, SDS to discuss tuition"
