Thursday morning, Lipscomb University hosted their second Hispanic Forum in the Ezell Center. Entitled “Opening Doors,” the forum was an informative event meant to cast light on the social outlook of America and Tennessee’s Hispanic youth and their education.
Lipscomb held the event to bring together educators, students, and other public leaders to focus on diversity in our communities.
President Randy Lowry began the morning stressing the importance of diversity in our community.
Dr. Stella Flores shared her outlook on the current situation. Flores is a Vanderbilt University professor and internationally recognized expert on Hispanic relations. Prior to becoming a staff member at Vanderbilt, Flores worked in the United States Government Accountability Office.
Flores, a Texas-native and Harvard graduate, stressed from the beginning that America’s Hispanic youth has not been targeted with enough help and it must change.
“Immigration is inching to the top of the policy agenda [in America],” Flores said.
Flores stated laws like the one recently passed in Arizona are a step back in America’s relations with immigrants.
The new law Flores spoke of, entitled Arizona SB1070, has an aim to find and deport suspected illegal immigrants. The law grants Arizona police officers the right to question suspected illegal immigrants and demand identification. If the person fails to produce a valid form of identification, they can and will be prosecuted and deported.
Flores said that we as Americans must give these Spanish-speaking students a fair chance at equal education. Flores’ parents are both college-educated Hispanics. However, she said that her mother was placed in speech classes throughout her schooling in an attempt to eliminate her accent and “Americanize” her.
Flores said, through her research, that she has narrowed down the “Trinity of College Access Factors.” These include academic preparation, cost and financial aid, and information constraints. All of these can be adapted to help Latinos, which needs to be done.
“Immigrants represent one in eight United States residents,” Flores said. “However, 30 percent of all low-income children are Hispanic.”
As this is the case, these children are growing up in a national society where the odds may seem a bit stacked against them.
One main focus Flores pushed was concerning undocumented immigrant tuition policies. Several states offer in-state tuition for certain undocumented immigrants that apply to state universities. Tennessee is not one of these states.
Flores believes that if Tennessee wants to be more appealing to a wider diversity of people, they must change this.
With Tennessee’s population representing one of the top five fastest growing immigrant numbers in the nation, the state and its laws affect many people relevant with the issue.
The Tennessee Lottery and the Hope Scholarship were also addressed. Hope Scholarships, currently funded by the Tennessee Lottery, are not currently available to undocumented immigrants because that is state government money.
Flores believes that if the lottery is to represent a fair cross section of the state and its people, these scholarships should be made available to all people, regardless of documentary status.
In 2009, Tennessee took a vote that could have potentially made English the only official language in the state. While the rejection of this law was a positive thing, Flores stressed that Tennessee needs to make a more conscious effort of helping in-state Latinos.
Potential passage of the federal DREAM Act is a step forward in the right direction, Flores believes.
The DREAM Act, which stands for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors, allows undocumented immigrant students that have been in the country for at least five years the temporary legal status to attend and finish college.