The Catalyst

By Bri Castellini, Web Editor

It’s the best prank in Colorado college history. A bill was passed on the first of that would allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state college tuition. Do you know what this means? That you may be shoved aside for admission for the benefit of an illegal immigrant, who is going to get to pay less tuition to get educated in the country where they aren’t even supposed to be in. April Fools!

Unfortunately, it’s not a prank; this is a very real issue. The bill passed with a vote of 5-4, but interestingly enough, Republican Ted Harvey, the main opposition to it, was gone on Wednesday when the vote was taken. He was in Florida taking care of his father with Alzheimer’s. Even more interesting, the vote was originally meant to take place Friday, when Harvey was scheduled to be back, but it was then moved up, thus ensuring a passing vote.

Foul play? There have been no comments from the side of the Democrats, who supported the bill, but according to the Associated Press, “Republican Sen. Keith King accused Democrats of holding the vote while Harvey was gone to ensure it passed.” On April 6th, however, five Democrats joined forces with the Republicans in the Colorado Senate to vote down the bill. Either way, it means big changes –albeit on hold momentarily- are in store for Colorado’s college-bound legal citizens.

"I just believe philosophically [that] we shouldn't punish children for the decisions of adults," Sen. Chris Romer (D-Denver) said. “"They're all going to have to sign an affidavit that they're going to seek citizenship. These are going to be people we want in our society. These are hard-working kids who really have aspirations of making our society better." An affidavit is a formal sworn statement of fact, signed by the declarant and witnessed by a taker of oaths. That means that if an illegal immigrant signs an affidavit saying that they will seek citizenship, they’re held to that. Otherwise, enrollment is revoked.

Signing an affidavit saying they’ll ‘seek’ citizenship doesn’t necessarily guarantee anything, however. These students are in this country illegally for a reason, what with the immigration quotas and restrictions. There is still the entire legal issue to be considered. Currently, no country can send more than 7% of the world’s population, or 25,620 people. Mexico, at last July’s estimate, has 109,955,400 people. According to Maps of the World, “the highest structure in population is observed between the age group of 15-64.” College age kids make up the highest population. If this law had been passed, who knows how flooded the border could become. At that point, affidavits wouldn’t do anything, because there would simply be too many people. This sends the wrong message, that if you manage to sneak across the border and apply for college, you can get free citizenship. It just doesn’t work like that.

Colleges have to comply with certain diversity requirements. According to CSU’s “Strategic Planning” page, “Given the historic and legal discrimination that has existed in American society, particular emphasis needs to be placed on the inclusion of individuals who are members of groups that have been excluded, i.e. racial/ethnic minorities, women in non-traditional areas and persons with disabilities.” This is a parallel of the so-called “affirmative action”, defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy as “positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and business from which they have been historically excluded.” It’s a trend spreading wide and far, and it’s an issue that’s becoming as controversial as abortion and gay marriage. Illegal immigrants are certainly ethnic minorities, and admitting them with affordable prices would greatly ‘up’ the school’s ethnic quota.

This is an excellent example of what we can call “reverse racism”. According to the Compact Oxford English Dictionary, “Reverse racism is, in its simplest form, the practice of favoring members of a historically disadvantaged group at the expense of members of a historically advantaged group.” Isn’t that what diversity requirements are? Here’s a wild idea; maybe schools should stop worrying about the ethnicity of the student and admit people who actually deserve to go to the college. The only way to end racial discrimination is to stop acknowledging it. The further we go to make sure everyone looks equal, the further away we get from equality. Black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, it doesn’t matter. If you’re a good student and you’re in this country legally, you should get the education you deserve because of your academic merit, not your ethnicity.

In the immortal words of Martin Luther King Jr., “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” With diversity requirements in place, we are not fulfilling Dr. King’s dream, we are going in the opposite direction. We are being judged first by our ethnic history so that our schools can be “diverse.” How about we stick to improving education as a whole so we can be diverse without being racist?