Thomas Poon

Provost Poon confirmed to the Loyolan that plans are in motion following the Dream Center request.

The University is planning to open the Dream Center, a space to provide support and services to undocumented students, in fall 2023.

In December 2020, LMU’s Latino community, including students, staff and faculty, sent President Timothy Snyder, Ph.D., a list of demands. One of the demands requested the creation of a Dream Center, a physical space utilizing resources and services to provide ample support and protection for undocumented students.

“In the Latinx community, we have been — for a very long time — asking for a number of things, and among those demands was the Dream Center,” said Cecilia González-Andrieu, Ph.D., a professor of theological studies. González-Andrieu has been a longtime advocate for immigrant students and has worked to establish social justice scholarships for these students.

Provost Thomas Poon, Ph.D., told the Loyolan that a director would be hired in spring 2023 to oversee the space, which was a specific request made in the list of demands. He went on to note the involvement of LMU leadership throughout the planning process. “The really cool thing is that, even at the highest levels, President Snyder's aware of this and he's very enthusiastic about it and supportive,” said Poon.

Though a date is set for the space, the location has yet to be officially announced by LMU. According to Poon, if an existing space is repurposed, he intends to notify the current occupants of the respective spaces at a leadership retreat later this month.

“On Dec. 12, we're going to convene a working retreat during that day to really plan and talk about how to move forward with the Dream Center here at LMU,” said Poon. “One of the biggest challenges about creating and establishing a Dream Center is the vulnerabilities of the constituents that will be served by the space.”

Doctor Cecilia González-Andrieu

LMU's Dream Center has taken the focus of Doctor Cecilia González-Andrieu advocacy efforts for immigrant students and allies on campus.

The University does not publicly disclose demographic information on the number of undocumented students enrolled at LMU that the Dream Center would serve, according to Dean of Students Terri Mangione, Ph.D.

“There is a number and we’re proud of it,” added Poon. “I don’t know the demographics ... I could probably get that information, but I think it's important for us to be cognizant of the vulnerabilities of this group.”

According to Poon, his team is assessing resources that could lead to potential fundraising opportunities for the Dream Center, including foundations and individual donors.

The University has a data governance group looking closely at the issue to better quantify the population, according to Mangione. She explained that the issue was identifying which students have a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status or not. “That's difficult because we want to keep people safe, but we also need to know who we're trying to help and how large the population is [for] both undergraduate and graduate [students],” said Mangione.

“The immigrant community at LMU is probably a lot bigger than what students realize and it affects individuals of every race and ethnicity a lot more than they may also realize. These types of resources set you up for your life after LMU,” said Leonardo Dominguez Ortega, a senior psychology and sociology double major who identifies as a “Dreamer.”

This term is used in reference to never-passed proposals in Congress called the DREAM Act.

“When we [the president’s cabinet] received the request last year, I consulted with the then-senior vice president for Student Affairs [Ph.D. Lane Bove], and one thing I learned from her is that many of the things that were being requested to be part of a Dream Center ... were already being provided, but just not all in one place,” said Poon.

Last year, President Snyder commissioned a working group to look at support services for immigrant students through Jennifer Abe, Ph.D., former vice president of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion office, according to Poon.

Abe organized the working group that was co-chaired by Mangione and Will Perez, a professor in the School of Education. Members of the committee included Abe; Natalie Guevara, former director of Chicano Latino Student Services; González-Andrieu; Allan Deck, S.J.; Amie Gonzalez, the president of Graduate Students of Loyola Marymount University.

The committee was tasked with reviewing the demands for the Dream Center and researching similar centers at other institutions to form ideas and report their recommendations to LMU’s president’s cabinet, according to Poon.

Aside from providing an update on the center’s establishment, Poon acknowledged that there was a funding issue for BoundlessLMU, a student-led organization providing stipends, allowing undocumented students and students with DACA status to be compensated for their work in their fellowship or internship.

“I think the Dream Center will be very important in ... providing opportunities for students to be compensated for learning opportunities that they engage in,” said Poon.

Claudia Sandoval, faculty advisor for BoundlessLMU, said there hasn’t been a way to distribute the funds to equally without affecting other potential scholarships for undocumented students.

According to Sandoval, the group hasn’t figured out a way to distribute fellowships to students who aren’t Dreamers and are strictly undocumented. “Since we can't figure it out for them, I can't pay the other students because essentially, they are the most vulnerable,” she said.

The president cabinet's working group is currently addressing BoundlessLMU’s funding issue for undocumented students.

“Many undocumented students that are part of the DACA program can work at institutions, but undocumented students that aren't part of the DACA program can't,” explained Poon. “But there are pathways for those students to be compensated for certain educational experiences. We want to provide more of those and that’s what I think the Dream Center can do.”

Dominguez Ortega, González-Andrieu and Sandoval collectively agree that LMU hasn't prioritized social justice issues in the demands of students, staff and faculty, citing the lack of communication about the progress of establishing a Dream Center.

“Having a Dream Center is super important. At the very least, what LMU can do, as an institution that claims it's here for its students, should be to support its students. The Dream Center is only one of hundreds of things that students need,” said Dominguez Ortega.

The perceived lack of updates regarding the Dream Center has drawn questions to progress on this project. “They’re right. Until this article gets published, people are in the dark,” replied Poon.

Poon continued that he is collaborating with Kawanna Leggett, Ed.D., senior vice president for Student Affairs, to make the Dream Center a priority and a reality.

“Stay tuned. I'm really excited about it. Hopeful. And what I would say is, we're not going to get it all right ... it's trial and error. It's consultations and seeing if our students are being served in the way that they need. And if not, we'll adjust when we can,” concluded Poon.

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.