University of California president Janet Napolitano announced Wednesday she’ll spend $5 million dollars to help undocumented students succeed in the UC system. Napolitano made the pledge at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco yesterday.
Napolitano was relaxed and personable as she made her first public address as president. She said she has some big ideas for UC. And one of her first initiatives is to support undocumented students.
“Let me be clear. UC welcomes all students who qualify academically, whether they’re documented or undocumented,” she said.
UC’s undocumented students have been Napolitano’s toughest critics because of her tenure as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security. Some have staged protests over her enforcement of controversial immigration policies. But now Napolitano says UC will set aside the $5 million to pay for special advisers, student service centers and financial aid for the system’s estimated undocumented population of 900.
“They do merit special attention,” she said. “Oftentimes they are from families who are very poor and first-generation, so have no one out there to talk to them about student life.”