Nonprofit makes college dreams a reality in Tenn.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Many undocumented immigrant students like Jonathan Ochoa grow up with a dream of attending college.
But unlike Ochoa, American citizens can apply for scholarships or loans to pay for school. Without Equal Chance for Education, a local organization that distributes $2.1 million in annual scholarships to undocumented students, Ochoa and others like him would not be able to attend college, he said Thursday during the third annual Evening of Conversations event in Nashville, Tennessee.
The event, hosted by Equal Chance for Education, included a panel discussion with former Washington Post publisher Don Graham, University of Tennessee Knoxville president Randy Boyd, civil rights expert Karla McKanders and Gaby Pacheco, an immigrant rights leader from Miami.
“I know many people, students, friends of mine who cannot get into a four-year university because they were born in their own country,” Ochoa said. He is part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Ochoa believes people in the DACA program, or “Dreamers” as they’re more commonly called, are worth the investment, the same as any child born inside the U.S.
During the Thursday discussion, Graham, Boyd, McKanders and Pacheco discussed that issue and several others facing undocumented immigrants as they attempt to pursue higher education and the American dream.
Pacheco said 18 states have passed legislation that offer in-state tuition and aid to undocumented immigrants. Tennessee isn’t one of them.
Equal Chance for Education got its start 10 years ago after founder Mike Spalding was inspired to support children missing out on financial aid, scholarships and bank loans to pay for college, he said.
Through the program, each student receives up to a $25,000 scholarship and can attend one of the 15 Tennessee colleges or universities with which the organization works. To date, there have been 131 graduates, and 556 students and their families have been helped.
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell said the scholars are stars, and they are often stopped at the intersection of education and immigration policy.
“I think they’re worthy of investment. It’s an investment in all of us,” O’Connell said, noting that nearly one in seven Nashvillians were born outside the United States.