Message from the President
September 5, 2017
As the national conversation on immigration and DACA continues to evolve, I want to reaffirm that each student, staff, and faculty member who makes up our UTRGV community is an important part of our university family. Regardless of place of birth or citizenship, each one of us contributes an important voice to our diverse campus. Please remember that Diversity, Access, and Inclusion is one of our core university values; we should all live and express that value every day in our interactions with each other.
For those of you who continue to struggle with the uncertainty of our current immigration situation, a number of resources are available to help support you even as national policy continues to develop.
- For students, the Student Life and Dean of Students office is there for you. They are continuously updating their website Supporting Students Who are Undocumented and are available to meet with students. Confidential support for personal issues or concerns is also available through the Counseling Center.
- For staff, confidential support for personal issues or concerns is available through Human Resources in cooperation with the UT Employee Assistance Program.
- For all of our UTRGV members, please remember our unwavering commitment to treat each other with respect. If you encounter behaviors that make you feel unwelcome, please use any of the resources mentioned above to report that behavior or contact our Office of Institutional Equity or University Police Department. All of these are there to support you.
- Keep in mind that UTRGV does not and will not share student educational records, including citizenship and immigration records, with outside authorities without student consent, unless compelled to by law. (See additional details about FERPA at the UCentral website.) Also the primary focus of UTRGV police remains to keep our campus community safe. They do not and will not ask students, faculty, and staff about immigration status.
- The statement from Chancellor McRaven lays out the UT System’s (and UTRGV’s) position on DACA. Please refer to that statement for more information.
Last week I had the pleasure of hosting 2,000 of our students for lunch at the Picnic with the President. Each one of those students has dreams and aspirations, and it is an honor and a privilege to help them on that journey. Each one of our faculty and staff who have been working thanks to DACA have been important supporters for those students. We continue to stand firmly with them through the ups and downs of our national conversations.
Sincerely,
Guy Bailey