Help for students facing issues related to DACA, disasters

After Hurricanes Harvey and Irma left their hometowns devastated, and rumors of mass deportations led them to question their futures, hundreds of Colorado college students are finding comfort and financial help on campus.

In addition to counseling and emotional support, money to cover tuition and other expenses is being offered to students who hail from America’s hurricanebattered south and southeast and the Caribbean.

And students brought illegally to the United States when they were children are finding money to pay fees and support through words and deeds at Metropolitan State University, said Iliana Chavez, a 24year-old senior.

“To have the school stand up and say they are willing to help us, that’s amazing,” Chavez said.

The university’s Denver Foundation is raising money to help cover the costs of renewal fees for hundreds of eligible DACA students at Metro State. Renewal fees for inclusion in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program can run as high as $500.

Metro State University president Janine Davidson, meanwhile, responded strongly to a proposal from President Donald Trump that DACA students may be deported.

“DACA students and employees are valuable contributors to our learning community and among the hardest workers we have on campus,” Davidson said. “They have come to MSU Denver to better their lives, families and communities. I intend to do everything in my power to ensure that they can continue to do so.”

Chavez came here with her parents from Guadalajara, Mexico, when she was 4. She is set to graduate from Metro State with degrees in political science and sociology and hopes to go to law school.

Fears about the end of DACA leave Chavez and others on campus worried about their future. “We are dealing with a lot of uncertainty and anxiety,” Chavez said.

The University of Colorado started a Student Relief Fund in April aimed at helping students enrolled in DACA and the related ASSET — Advancing Students for a Stronger Economy Tomorrow — programs. The fund, supported by private contributions, helps students who face financial hardship or legal roadblocks to accessing federal or state financial aid, officials said.

The fund now has about $50,000 in it, CU spokesman Ken McConnellogue said.

The Student Crisis Fund at Colorado State University was established in 1990 to help CSU students who face serious financial hardship because of unanticipated expenses. The fund is being used to help students whose families are facing hardships because of hurricanes and wildfires as well as DACA students, university officials said.

After Hurricanes Harvey and Irma hit, CU officials sent emails to students from Florida, Texas, other southeast states and the Caribbean, offering support and pointing them to free and confidential campus resources that assist students experiencing personal or family crises.

“Students who receive these emails expressed deep gratitude for the support and acknowledgment the campus offered,” McConnellogue said.

CU’s Division of Student Affairs, the Bursar’s Office and the Office of Financial Aid also worked to extend tuition and fee deadlines for students affected by the storms and waived late charges, he said.

The CU Volunteer Resource Center is organizing service trips to the areas hit hardest by the hurricanes to offer help, McConnellogue said.

The University of Denver said as many as 125 students were affected by the hurricanes and that the school’s Student Outreach and Support and the Office of Graduate Studies assigned a case manager to the students to provide information about the resources available to them.