Student Immigration Reform Advocates Win De Anza's President's Award

Editor's Note: The following information was provided by De Anza public information officer Marisa Spatafore, with additional contextual information from Los Altos Patch and Mountain View Patch. It has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Two students actively involved in immigration reform issues, Angelica Esquivel and Shaila Ramos, have been selected as President's Award scholarship winners by college President Brian Murphy.

The $2,000 scholarships are presented annually to two graduating students who have overcome significant adversity and demonstrated great perseverance in seeking an education at De Anza. 

This year, 113 De Anza College students were awarded 55 scholarships totaling more than $127,000. 

Angelica "Angie" Esquivel graduates with an A.A. degree in Liberal Arts with an emphasis on Math, Science and Engineering. She will attend University of California-Los Angeles in the fall, where she will major in sociology and minor in public health.

She was inspired to pursue a career in the health field in part because her father dreamed of her becoming a doctor and helping the less fortunate, and because she has witnessed firsthand the health care challenges experienced by the undocumented community.

Esquivel's initial goal was to be a nurse, but she discovered that she would be ineligible because of her immigration status. When she learned from her counselor at De Anza about opportunities in public health, she realized that the field is an ideal intersection of her interests in health, politics, community involvement and social change.

"I fell in love with the different possibilities because I'm able to continue to use the skills I've gained as a community organizer as well as remain in the health field," Esquivel says. "I want to be an educator and advocate for the resources people need in order to live a just and healthy life."

At De Anza, Esquivel was an active member of the Integral Movement for AB 540 Student Success (IMASS) Club.

Shaila Ramos, graduating with an A.A. degree in Liberal Arts with a focus on Leadership and Social Justice, is transferring in the fall to UC Santa Cruz, where she will major in Peace and Conflict Studies.

A student organizer in 2010 in support of the California Dream Act, her goal is to become a lawyer and establish a nonprofit to advocate for immigrant rights.

 Ramos served in leadership roles for the IMASS Club and the Higher Education for AB 540 Students (HEFAS) program and was elected executive vice president of the De Anza Associated Student Body (DASB) for 2011-12.

She also was an intern in the college's Office of Equity, Social Justice and Multicultural Education, Institute of Community and Civic Engagement (ICCE), and Intercultural/International Studies (IIS) Division. The initial group in which she participated at De Anza was the First Year Experience learning community.

"I have been a strong advocate for higher education ever since I realized that my voice had power," Ramos says. "As an activist, community organizer and undocumented student, I have found my voice."

Graduation at De Anza will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 29, at the college's newly renovated Stadium. Video of the ceremony will be available in early July on iTunesU.

Jose Antonio Vargas, an immigration reform advocate who won a Pulitzer Prize while a reporter at the Washington Post, will be the keynote speaker.

The U.S. Senate began debate this week on a comprehensive immigration bill whose fate is closely watched by millions, including "Dreamers," young people whose families brought them to the U.S. when they were minors, just as Vargas was brought to Mountain View by his grandfather, and hope to go to college.