President McConnell’s Statement on DACA

The following is a statement from College of Charleston President Glenn McConnell ’69 regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program:

As you may have seen in the news, the Department of Justice announced plans yesterday to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that provided temporary authorization for the children of undocumented people to work or attend school in the United States.

At this time, there is not much clarity on the issue. There has been discussion of a six-month time frame to end the program, but there have also been calls from the Trump administration for the U.S. Congress to take up this issue with new legislation.

I fully support Congressional action that will provide legal status to those once covered by DACA. That kind of legislation speaks to our own campus core values of diversity and inclusion.

At the College of Charleston, we have only a small number of students who may be affected by the loss of protection of DACA. However, each member of our community plays an integral role in the life of our campus. They deserve to be here, and they deserve a chance to cross our majestic Cistern stage, with a College of Charleston diploma in hand.

In the coming days, College officials will work to better understand the DACA decision. In the meantime, we will reach out to our DACA students to assure them that the College of Charleston stands in support of them.

If you have any questions about DACA at this time, please contact the Office of the Provost.