Finding Resources and Empowerment through Education
Finding Resources and Empowerment through Education (F.R.E.E.) strives to provide leadership by encouraging advocacy,values,and customs that will lead to the continued recruitment, retention and graduation of low-income and undocumented students. As students of Humboldt State we have noticed that there isn’t resources for students who are low-income and who fall under the AB540 category. F.R.E.E’s goals for this semester are to make this institution a AB-540 friendly/aware campus.
About the Club
In the past FREE has organized workshops to help high school students pursuit a higher education by providing a college readiness conference. FREE has attended an AB 540 Conference in order to better understand what resources and networks can act as support systems for marginalized students; with this knowledge FREE hopes to make HSU an AB 540 a friendly campus. FREE has facilitated workshops educating our HSU campus and community about : -Deferred Action for Children Arrivals (DACA),
– AB 540 – AB 130, – AB 131.FREE also does service for the community twice a month and attends Latin@ Net meetings in order to bridge the gap between HSU and the local community. FREE continues to share knowledge and acts as allies to advocate for underrepresented students.
Fall 2012-Spring 2013
FREE is working tirelessly in order to bring attention to the lack of support to undocumented students. We are doing this through:
——->Building talks with administrators,faculty, and staff ——->Inviting Dolores Huerta as key note speaker to touch on the misrepresentation of communities ——-> Inviting Dr. Zavala to the Institute for Student Success (The Spring 2013 Institute for Student Success will provide staff, faculty, and administrators with information, resources, and strategies useful in supporting a variety of student learning needs and enhancing the success of students from diverse backgrounds. The Spring Institute will include a range of workshops focused on various topics, from creating inclusive campus environments to effective pedagogy.) Title: Leveraging Our Institutional Roles: What Faculty and Staff can do to Advocate for AB 540 StudentsDescription: What are the historical conditions impacting undocumented students today? Why should I advocate for undocumented students? What can I do as a faculty member or staff in advocating for undocumented students at my campus? In this interactive workshop participants will dialogue about key legislation, such as AB 540, AB 130, and AB 131, that directly impacts undocumented students. The workshop explores ways in which faculty can become advocates for AB540 students. Concrete examples derived from the presenter’s experience working in grassroots organizations and as a faculty member at California State University, Fullerton, will be provided.
BIO:
Dr. Zavala is Assistant Professor in the Department of Secondary Education. His research and teaching interests include community organizing, critical pedagogies, and decolonizing research. Since 2005 he has been advocating for undocumented immigrant youth as an integral member of grassroots organizations, which have taken on local campaigns. He is currently Executive Director of the Raza Education Fund (REF), a non-profit organization that has successfully fundraised over $120,000 in scholarships for undocumented students.
———-> Building dialogue on the unification of Latin@ students at Humboldt State.
Membership Qualifications
The qualifications to be apart of FREE are:
-To be able to attend our weekly meetings
-Be passionate about the cause FREE is advocating
-Willing to be an ally
- Be able to speak out against racism,sexism,homophobia, ableism and any kind of barrier that doesn’t respect individuality and communities.
How to Join
Be able to attended our weekly meetings, participate in leading workshops, and most of all be enthusiastic about building a support system for undocumented students.