Raleigh Hutchison | News Editor

GC’s Latino Student Association and Young Democrats hosted a peaceful stand-in on front campus Wednesday, April 14, to protest the denial of DACA students from attending GC. Nearly two dozen students convened together to show the school they believe anybody should be able to apply and gain access to GC.

YD and LSA have been fighting USG Policy 416 for a long time. But they are currently showing up in numbers to prove to the GC Board that the student body desires that the new president will revoke the policy allowing the admittance of DACA students.

In the past, YD has hosted presentations to educate others on the policy, deeming it discriminatory. They’ve tabled in front of the A&S building inviting onlookers to sign their petition and learn more about their rights as students. Recently YD hosted a “letter campaign” that sent letters to the Milledgeville representative Jody Hice informing him that college students are unhappy about USG Policy 416. All these moments led to the stand-in which had the intention of showing GC the faces of students who are desiring a change on campus, said Ari Khadavi YD Vice President.

“My roommate’s family is from Mexico. I think she was the first one to tell me DACA students weren’t allowed to attend GCSU. That really frustrated me, given the political events happening during the time” said Molly Hooks, LSA and YD member.

Because of the previous year’s civil unrest, many citizens are forced to face moral dilemmas on how they want the world to look. Students involved in YD are highly active on campus and willingly stand up for those unnoticed and unheard.

“I think the mission of these organizations, for this gathering at least, was to make the GCSU population more aware of the discriminatory actions of the school by creating a peaceful stand-in and also creating a petition to allow DACA students,” Hook said.

The event lasted a few hours and followed COVID-19 guidelines. Hooks said they all wore masks the entire time.

“I hope this stand-in will create a bigger conversation on our campus about why our administration has chosen to not allow DACA students here. I also hope that this petition will get the attention of the incoming President of GCSU to hopefully change this policy in the near future,” Hooks explained. She said the petition was a sheet of paper she signed in person with many others.

Khadavi said that anyone interested in signing the petition against USG Policy 416 should contact LSA through their Instagram: @gc_lsa.

To get more involved in LSA, visit https://www.gcsu.edu/culturalcenter/programs-and-organizations, or contact the Cultural Center directly by emailing [email protected]. To get involved in YD, visit https://www.gcsu.edu/artsandsciences/gov/organizations.