Ana Campos

As a first-generation American, an anonymous junior said she trudged through high school longing for a helping hand in navigating unfamiliar processes, like submitting transcripts. Once she started at UT Austin, she joined Monarch, a program under Longhorn Center for Academic Equity providing resources and community for undocumented, DACA and other students with temporary status. 

She said opportunities are already very limited for undocumented students, leaving them often feeling underprepared after graduation. Monarch helped those students build their resumes, apply to internships with no social security number needed and find a community. In her time at Monarch, she found fulfillment and accomplishment guiding other students while giving them a safe space to talk in a university and country that often forgets that undocumented students exist, she said. 

The University shut down Monarch on Jan. 1 to comply with Senate Bill 17 which bans diversity, equity and inclusion mandatory trainings, offices and hiring practices in public Texas universities.

“It is no secret that the (undocumented) student population is not recognized, but Monarch was a way to say ‘Hey, these students exist. They need support,’” the anonymous junior said. “To suddenly take it away is taking us backward.” 

In 2019, students and staff founded Rooted, another organization that shares Monarch’s values of supporting undocumented students. Rooted does not receive University funds, meaning it does not have to comply with SB 17 restrictions. Rooted took over Monarch’s Instagram on Jan. 10 and will continue similar workshops and events. Some former Monarch members are part of Rooted, the anonymous junior said. 

Public relations junior Alexis Garcia, a second-generation student, said she wonders how different her parents’ college experience would have been if they had a community like Monarch. She said the sense of community and belonging can help push the undocumented population further in their future. 

“The Monarch program was a way for people to know for a fact that they were welcome there, and know for a fact that they would be accepted for who they are because everyone is in the same boat,” Garcia said. “I was absolutely broken. We are really regressing as a … state.” 

The anonymous junior said the shutdown made students feel targeted and lost. She said they deserved the same amount of help as any other student paying the same tuition. 

“(A lot of students) see the message that is being sent out, and it’s leaving a lot of people feeling very isolated by the University,” the anonymous junior said. “Sadly, that is something that a lot of the Monarch students feel. They feel isolated and (that they’re) not getting the proper resources and support they need. Now that the program is gone, it’s even more obvious.”