Dear President Fry:

On behalf of the International Law and Human Rights Society, other student organizations, and many members of the Drexel Law student body, we are writing to respectfully urge you to support the following statement in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and our undocumented immigrant students. We, as a cohesive Drexel community, would like to see your name on this statement in solidarity with the presidents of many other prominent universities in our area who have already signed on. Presidents from University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, Temple University, Bryn Mawr College, Swarthmore College, St. Joseph’s University, Penn State University, University of Pittsburgh and over 400 other colleges and universities across the country have already showed their support.

It is important to us that you, as our president, help us by joining many of the other higher educational institutions already working to ensure continued protection of vulnerable students who make this inclusive community such a rich, diverse environment.

Please see the statement below, which can be supplemented with more information and signed by contacting support-daca@pomona.edu:

The core mission of higher education is the advancement of knowledge, people, and society. As educational leaders, we are committed to upholding free inquiry and education in our colleges and universities, and to providing the opportunity for all our students to pursue their learning and life goals.

Since the advent of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012, we have seen the critical benefits of this program for our students, and the highly positive impacts on our institutions and communities. DACA beneficiaries on our campuses have been exemplary student scholars and student leaders, working across campus and in the community. With DACA, our students and alumni have been able to pursue opportunities in business, education, high tech, and the non-profit sector; they have gone to medical school, law school, and graduate schools in numerous disciplines. They are actively contributing to their local communities and economies.

To our country’s leaders we say that DACA should be upheld, continued, and expanded. We are prepared to meet with you to present our case. This is both a moral imperative and a national necessity. America needs talent – and these students, who have been raised and educated in the United States, are already part of our national community. They represent what is best about America, and as scholars and leaders they are essential to the future.

We call on our colleagues and other leaders across the business, civic, religious, and non-profit sectors to join with us in this urgent matter.

We urge you to take action on this as soon as possible.

Thank you,