By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education tonight (Thursday) is expected to approve a recommendation to support the recent ruling that requires North Carolina Community Colleges to admit undocumented individuals who meet admission requirements.
The North Carolina Community College System in November directed all community colleges to begin admitting undocumented individuals, who must pay out-of-state tuition. According to school officials, the board is considering supporting the ruling because Chapel Hill-Carrboro students are affected by the decision and could be negatively impacted if the General Assembly were to consider legislation overriding the decision.
The school board in January considered whether or not to take a position on the issue, and directed administration to bring back a recommendation for the board to support the ruling.
Martin Lancaster, president of the North Carolina Community College System, said in a statement, “The vast majority of students who might pursue an educational opportunity at a community college came to this country as young children having no choice in the matter. They were brought here by their parents, often as babes in arms. How can these children be considered ‘lawbreakers’ intent on taking advantage of our community college programs illegally?…
“If North Carolina wants to continue its dramatic economic progress, it must embrace education as the primary strategy for its future. No potential worker of tomorrow must ever be consigned to the desperation that comes from ignorance and inability to obtain rewarding employment.â€
According to Lancaster, 37 of the state’s 57 community colleges had already begun formally admitting undocumented individuals prior to the ruling, and 340 undocumented students of more than 271,000 curriculum students had enrolled.