As a school that was at the forefront of desegregation, being a sanctuary campus is not a priority
Berea College has a history of being a campus that promotes equality for all students. Although the school President sent an open letter to students calling to be a sanctuary campus, he ultimately decided not to based off of potential backlash that the school would face.
Berea college is no stranger to the continuous fight for equality in America being that they were one of the first co-ed and interracial colleges during a time where the color of your skin determined your fate in life. Since then, Berea broke barriers by not charging a single student tuition and also fighting to be a sanctuary campus in a time where fear of deportation clouds students minds.
Lyle Roelofs, president of Berea College, sent an open letter to faculty and students late last year calling the campus to be a place of sanctuary for every student regardless of race, gender, country of origin, and political ideology.
Essentially most students at Berea are black and white. The Latino population only makes up 6 percent on campus. 7.7 percent of students are non-residents. Approximately 125 students are undocumented.
The school president believes that there is an absolute need to protect Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and undocumented students who face the risk of losing their benefits but their rights to a fair education but some people felt otherwise.
Social media posts and student comments prove Berea to be a college where most feel proud and happy to attend. Being in a rural part of Kentucky and through the means of research it became clear that most of the students are republican and very conservative. This led to the campus deciding not to declare their school as a sanctuary campus.
Osvaldo Flores, executive student body president of the student government says that his school decided not to become sanctuary because they feared all of the backlash they would receive from the community. He also ensured that campus president, Lyle Roelofs is doing everything he can and working with everyone in other ways according to the law without officially naming them a sanctuary campus.
While many of the students who attend the University do come from upper class conservative backgounds, there are still many who consider themselves a minority in the immigrant battle that America is currently facing.
Student Pedro Castro believes his campus values diversity and equality. For Castro, a sanctuary campus will defend your rights as human being from laws that seem unfit.
He stated in the survey that the divisions created through the new immigration laws divide our country and “once our country becomes more divided it becomes harder for the people to work together for a common good.”
“Divided we stand divided we fall” — Pedro Castro
Some of the students did not see the importance in the issue and did not understand how it could benefit the school as a whole.
Students have had a history with differing opinions on immigration at Berea.
Immigrants have always been contributors to the economy of the United States, and to scapegoat immigrants for some of the problems the United States is facing is an act of racism. — Pedro Castro
