Re-ignition Of The Sanctuary College Petition

Almost one year ago, Spanish professor Marisela Fleites-Lear, along with students and other faculty members, presented a petition to a monthly Board of Trustees meeting.

The petition was brought to the board in hopes to make the college a safe space for all students, documented or otherwise. This would be done by designating the college a sanctuary. However, the board never released an official statement related to this petition even after reaching a conclusion. Fleites-Lear also never heard back from the board. The conclusion basically declined Fleites-Lear’s proposal.

“After waiting for months and months and months, I asked the secretary of the president whatever happened. She sent me a resolution the board had taken,” said Fleites-Lear, one of the original creators of the petition.

The petition caught traction amongst the turmoil caused by President Trump’s claim to remove the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the possible deportation of undocumented immigrants. Via the petition, Fleites-Lear wanted to make sure it was clear that the college protected its students and there was no room for hate on campus.

Fleites-Lear did whatever was in her power to make the petition as appealing as possible to the Board. She spent hours reworking the primary petition, with the guidance of the then administration led by Interim President Scott Morgan, into a watered down version to make it more likely that the Board would approve of the proposal.

One of the more important key points of the petition was to make sure students that were protected under the DACA would continue to pay in-state tuition, even if the law was changed, making it easier for Dreamers to continue their education. DACA was a government program created in 2012 under the Obama administration.

“We knew that given the current political climate the adopting the title of Sanctuary College would have been politically problematic and we knew that, so we put in the proposal an alternative proposal, we attached to our name something like… a social justice committed campus,” Fleites-Lear said. “It’s a motto that will let anyone know, just by looking at the title of our college,” said Fleites-Lear.

The petition also promised to protect the students’ privacy by not disclosing important information and documentation to authorities until they were provided by a subpoena or court order, making sure that thes students would not be taken off campus forcefully without any reason.

During the spark of removing the DACA program, there was also talk about creating a Muslim registry. The petition provided protection to these students as well, in case the federal administration seriously decided to implement a registry.

One thousand and twenty-nine people from the community signed this petition. Of these, 55 percent were students and alumni, 15 percent were staff, 20 percent faculty members, and 10 percent were from the community. She finds it very upsetting and disrespectful that the board never bothered to inform her, nor the 1,029 people who signed the petition, about their decision.

“…I find it very disrespectful that the board has not communicated with me, the college, and the media,” said Fleites-Lear.

Fleites-Lear said that it is particularly disheartening because while she attended training sessions organized by the Green River Diversity & Equity Council, she encountered many questions that were addressed by the petition, and yet the college doesn’t have many policies in place to deal with them.

“I do know from the communication of the secretary of the president, it seems like that request was not even taken into consideration … What occurred is exactly what I was afraid of.” Fleites-Lear said. “They created the resolution that is absolutely meaningless. The fact that no one knows means it’s meaningless,” said Fleites-Lear.

However, she feels that the process of making the petition itself was not unyielding. She believes it was important to start a conversation on campus, and the creation of the petition was a good ignition. Fleites-Lear is very thankful for the encouraging response and guidance that she received from then Interim President Morgan during the creation of the petition.

The college has introduced new templates in their hiring process which brings diversity, equity, and inclusion further into the light. She feels encouraged by the swift responses of the administration when dealing with hateful remarks and symbolism.

Fleites-Lear hopes to restart the conversation and maybe with the help of President Suzanne Johnson, there could be future plans to push for the petition again, or at least bring in some administrative changes to the college concerning these students and their safety.