President of Fordham Unversity Pledges Support of Undocumented Students
By FUPress
5th December 2016
On November 30, Fordham University’s President Joseph M. McShane, S.J. sent an email to the Fordham community to announce his stance of solidarity toward undocumented students. Joining the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities and the Association of Jesuit Catholic Universities, McShane signed two statements in support of undocumented students, pledging “to protect to the fullest extent of the law undocumented students on our campuses.” Speaking to Fordham’s values specifically, McShane outlined his position in the email received by the university community. Archbishop Hughes, Fordham’s founder, was an immigrant and saw the university as a place for an immigrant community to receive an education. Additionally, McShane claims:
“Through the decades…the University has never deviated from its historic mission of welcoming and serving new Americans, a mission that has shaped us and defined us, and a mission that has enriched us beyond measure.”
Both Father McShane’s e-mail and the statements released by the ACCU and the ACJU reflect the ideology that Jesuit institutions have the moral obligation to uphold Catholic values by supporting and protecting undocumented students. Undocumented and in College, which will be published by Fordham University Press in 2017, delves into the perspectives of both undocumented students in Jesuit universities and the institutions in which they are enrolled. Based on extensive research, this book examines the role of religious educational institutions in the context of heated debates surrounding immigration, and also brings the perspectives of undocumented students themselves to light.