DREAM goes on a year later

A small crowd of students and CSULB officials gathered in the Hermosa Beach conference room on Wednesday, March 9 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Dream Success Center’s opening.

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Dream Success Center anniversary banner being hung on wall

“I wasn’t even on campus yet but my first Skype meeting was about the Dream Center,” CSULB President Jane Close Conoley said in a short speech. “Students came to the forum and spoke so passionately about the topic.”

Conoley cut a cake celebrating the center’s first year on campus as the crowd took photos and applauded.

DSC director Rafael Topete and coordinator Edgar Romo spoke to the crowd and reflected on the center’s first year of providing services to undocumented students and the challenges they face in trying to complete their education goals.

“We’ve gotten in quite a bit of students,” Topete said. “We’re also able to be a resource for the campus for different offices – from ASI to the book store to a couple of different colleges.”

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President Conoley cuts the first piece of cake

The center has hosted over 20 workshops since its opening. These workshops include AB 540 ally training for CSULB faculty and staff members looking to become allies of undocumented students on campus, teaching students how to use academic advising tools and applying for graduate school.

Topete said that he was surprised to exceed expectations in terms of the number of students coming by and the number of contacts made in terms of the services being provided. He also added that the workshops have helped faculty and staff better understand undocumented students as a whole and making them more visible on campus.

“We’ve been able to change policy on campus to better include our students,” Topete said. “In addition to the services we provide out of the center, it’s nice to be able to affect change [on campus] as a whole.”

Founded in March 2015, the center serves as a resource for CSULB’s undocumented students under AB540, which was signed into law by then-Gov. Gray Davis on Oct. 12, 2001 and created an exemption for certain non-resident students who have attended high school in California and received a diploma or its equivalent from paying non-resident tuition when they enroll in public colleges and universities. The passage of 2011’s California DREAM Act permitted undocumented students to benefit from state financial aid to pay for fees.

The center also has an original copy of AB540 on display in their offices as a reminder of their goals.

“Every time I’ve talked to a legislature, [immigration] is always on the agenda,” Conoley said. “The Dream Center is a constant reminder to me that this is important and that it affects not only our students but also their families and eventually their children.”

Written by Navy Keophan