A home. A car. Enough money to live comfortably. The American Dream takes on a different meaning for most people in the United States, but is built upon the belief that freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, education and hard work. Yet for many undocumented students, living out the American Dream can be difficult – if not impossible – to do, especially with a lack of resources and money to receive a college degree.
But now a new door of opportunity has opened at Saint Peter’s. The Dream Fund Scholarship was recently established to help undocumented students complete their university degree.
A private family foundation that wishes to remain anonymous created the Fund. Assistant Vice President of Advancement Leah Leto M ’05 said the scholarship will provide financial assistance to juniors and seniors that have demonstrated academic success. “We want to help them achieve a goal,” she explained. “This scholarship is intended for bright and promising students that will make good use of the money and carry on the American Dream.” It is estimated that there are as many as 50 undocumented students currently enrolled at the Jesuit University of New Jersey.
According to the Dream Scholarship Fund website, many people who entered the United States to work as immigrants during the economic boom years of the last few decades brought their minor children with them. These children have been attending American public schools since kindergarten, and in every cultural sense of the word are “Americans.” For the great majority of these children, English is their primary language and they have not been to the country of their parents’ birth since early childhood. The goal of the Dream Fund Scholarship is to help these children reach their potential of becoming highly successful, productive, tax paying citizens who will contribute to renewing the economy.
For more information about the Dream Fund Scholarship at Saint Peter’s University, email Claudia Pope-Bayne at cpopebayne@saintpeters.edu.