DSU Welcomes Opportunity Scholarship Recipients

The Opportunity Scholarship has become an exciting reality at DSU for 34 immigrant students who otherwise would have virtually no higher education option in the United States.

The scholarship recipients -- known as DREAMers after the scholarship provider TheDream.US -- are undocumented immigrants who as children came with their parents into the United States and attended public schools, excelling academically.

Through no fault of their own, they found themselves locked out of state institutions of higher education – either by being declared out-of-state students (with unaffordable out-of-state tuition costs) or by laws in certain states that prohibit the enrollment of undocumented students at state colleges and universities.

Because Delaware State University has joined Eastern Connecticut State University as the two institutions to accept such students, it has become an elusive dream come true for these new Hornets.

“I was working construction and would have kept doing that,” said Rafael Arce, who moved with his parents from Mexico to the United States when he was age 7. Despite doing well in the public schools of Napa, Idaho, he could not enroll in that state’s higher education system due the cost prohibitive out-of-state tuition costs.

“This opens up a million doors for me,” said Mr. Arce, who will major in electrical engineering at DSU.

It was out-of-state tuition that also made a college education seem out of reach for Daniela Rivera. She said although pursing a nursing degree was a great dream of hers, she felt it would be selfish to expect her father – who she noted worked “all day and night, just to support my family” – to make it happen.

“I feel that this scholarship was an actual miracle,” said Ms. Rivera, whose Mexican family eventually settled in Georgia. “I had pretty much given up on college.”

Alejandro Montoya, who graduated from a high school in Marietta, Georgia, says he is excited about pursuing a degree in electrical engineering.

“It is a blessing,” Mr. Montoya said. “I can better myself, and when I get done,  I want to go back to my community and help others achieve their dreams.”

While most of the 34 students are Hispanic, a few of the Opportunity Scholars come from elsewhere. Olivia Delphine Bekale was born in Gabon in West Africa, but moved to the U.S. with her parents and eventually settled in Baton Rouge, Louisiana – another locked out state.

“I thought I was going to have to wait for something to change in the U.S. immigration policy before I could enroll in college,” said Ms. Bekale, who is majoring in forensic biology and also wants to go to medical school after her undergraduate years.

The scholarships have been provided by TheDream.US, an organization created for this purpose and founded by Donald E. Graham, chairman of Graham Holding Company and the former CEO and chairman of the Washington Post. Delaware Gov. Jack Markell was approached by Mr. Graham about the program, and the governor then met with DSU President Harry Williams who in turn opened the doors of Delaware State University to the Opportunity Scholarship students.

The 34 recipients at DSU fit the general profile of undocumented college students as noted in a study published in 2015 in Inside Higher Education – they are highly motivated, resilient and have worked hard to succeed despite the odds.

All of the Opportunity Scholarship students well meet DSU’s admission criteria. Their average high school GPA of 3.62 reflects a group of students who applied themselves in high school, and their diligence has provided them to access to this higher education opportunity.

“I knew my parents didn’t have the money for college, so I worked hard in school,” said Alondra Dueñas, a Mexico native who came with her parents to the U.S. at age 5 and completed public schooling in North Carolina. “Without this scholarship, I would have kept working and saving money for school.”

Ms. Dueñas is majoring in hospitality and tourism management.

Arely Blanco, who moved to the U.S. at age 8 with her mother (to meet her father who was already in the country) and completed high school in South Carolina, said she is not very familiar with Mr. Graham or Gov. Markell, but noted he has given the scholars an opportunity that they could not get in the states they lived in.

“(Both are) a very kind person,” said Ms. Blanco, who is will majoring in criminal justice and has aspirations to eventually become an immigration attorney.  I’m grateful they thought of people like us who have had such obstacles to a college education.”

Most of the students were born in Mexico, but some are natives of Peru, Ecuador, El Salvador, as well as Trinidad/Tobago, Gabon and Gambia. They come from the locked out states of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Indiana and Louisiana.

“They have demonstrated that they work hard to overcome barriers,” said Tania Wilcox, the TheDream.US director of college partnerships who conducted a workshop with DSU administrators in advance of the new students’ arrival. “Through no fault of their own, they have been denied higher education in the states they lived in, and that does not follow the principles of this country in which everyone should have the right to education.”

The Opportunity Scholarship will cover DSU tuition, fees, housing and meal costs for four years for each student.

“When DSU began in 1891 as the State College for Colored Students, it was an institution that provided higher education opportunity to black students who could not get into Delaware College (which later became the University of Delaware) because of their race,” said DSU President Harry L. Williams. “We are proud and excited to continue that same legacy with these undocumented students who are just as deserving as anyone to achieve their higher education aspirations.”

“They are now officially DSU Hornets!” the DSU president added.