In the 1980s, Lee Brown and other San Diego State University faculty members became furious when they were instructed by the government to identify and report any undocumented immigrants on their campus.
Twenty years later, Brown, who is now a journalism professor at Cal State Long Beach, finds himself in a very different situation.
He and all members of the CSULB faculty are able to attend university-provided classes intended to inform faculty about the day-to-day lives of undocumented immigrants on campus, and to teach them how to better help these students navigate through university life.
The main goal of the program, called AB 540 Ally Training, is to “create a more welcoming environment for immigrant students, to help integrate the students into campus life and to make a successful academic venue towards graduation for the students,” according to Elena Macias, a special assistant to CSULB President F. King Alexander for government, legislative and community relations.
An AB 540 student is a nonresident of California who is exempt from paying out-of-state tuition at a California university or college. These students are exempt only if they have attended three or more years of high school in the state, graduated from a California high school or the equivalent and registered for classes at a California university or college. If the person is an undocumented immigrant they must also have filed for residency in the state.
In the program, faculty members are provided with an AB 540 resource guide — a guide for advisers of undocumented immigrant students — before the training begins. Training events consists of lectures, activities, a student panel discussion and a Q-and-A session.
“[Faculty will] learn about what life is like [for an immigrant student], particularly unprotected immigrant students because most students are in the shadows and you cannot tell who is an unprotected student and who isn’t,” Macias said. “So, they often will have unmet needs.
Macias said this allows the faculty more awareness of what their needs are.
Another goal of the training is to get the message across that AB 540 students need a voice on campus, according to Daniel Becerra, a sophomore business management major.
Becerra is from Peru and has lived in California for more than five years. He is a member of FUEL, an AB 540 student advocacy and support group on campus that informs and provides AB 540 students with a network of support services.
“We have to communicate to our professors our frustrations so they can speak on our behalf because they have more power in the university than we do,” he said.
The number of participants in the training group is kept small in order maximize the levels of interaction and learning among faculty participants and organizers of the training session, according to Macias.
Faculty members who complete the training receive stickers to post in their offices flagging them as “allies” to AB 540 students. The sticker creates an open-door policy for AB 540 students with these faculty members.
The logo on the sticker was created by an AB 540 student and is the logo for FUEL. The decal can only be obtained after completion of the training.
Training sessions first began in fall 2008, and each session lasts four hours. So far there has been one per semester. This semester’s training session was on March 13.
Becerra was a panelist at the March 13 training session.
“We didn’t have enough time for really personal questions, but I think that the four students that were on the panel did a really good job,” Becerra said.
Brown participated in the last training session, and said it was a fairly complicated but effective program.
“I thought it was a morning well-spent and I learned a lot, as I think others did,” Brown said.
The training is not a university requirement, but faculty members who are interested in becoming AB 540 student allies or want to know more about these students can volunteer for the program.
According to Macias, there are faculty members on campus who aren’t completely informed about these particular students and their struggles.
“[S]ome are more aware of it than others,” Macias said. “Some have met AB 540 students, so they were referred to this training because they have had personal experiences with a student that they want to learn more. Others have been advocates for some time and they want the opportunity to get the decal so that they can post it in their office.”
This updated version of the story was posted on March 18 at 12:30 p.m.