Oh Georgia …
The bar of higher education has been set … at an all-time low by the regents of the university system for the State of Georgia. The system which runs all of Georgia’s public universities and colleges, has decided to not admit any illegal immigrants, or anyone for that matter, who cannot show proper paperwork.
As you may read here, http://chronicle.com/article/Georgia-Regents-Ban-Illegal/124903/ the old, white men who serve as the state’s trustees have made a move which basically offends the entire idea behind higher education — anyone who is qualified and looking for a greater knowledge-base, should have it. Yet the most shocking thing about this decision is really not the disallowing of illegal immigrants, it is the obscene numbers that these schools are dealing with. Of the five colleges which this ban deals with, there are currently a whopping 27 undocumented students on campus! T.W.E.N.T.Y. S.E.V.E.N. students folks. On five campuses. The regents of this system earn a significant stipend for their time spent discussing and offering solutions on real problems that the system faces such as budget deficits, academic fraud, program expansion and how to attract the very best and brightest (though, of course, they must have papers).
The distinct problem that they have now created for themselves with the law is the enforcement. It is akin to the Arizona racial profiling dilemma, but in this case, it’s going to cost them more to hire employees and build or buy systems which will have to comb every single applicant’s paperwork in order to verify or falsify their legality. From an economics standpoint, they have just made a very poor decision. From a prospective student standpoint (or, in my specific case, a guidance counselor’s), they have turned many students off from their system.
I don’t know if there is a solution for this threat to Georgia’s higher education institution. Yet, I can imagine that what these men (and some women) have decided to do, against the good wishes of so many, will open the opportunity for not only discrimination, but a terrible use of the public’s resources.
What do you think? Leave a comment.
