Why Texas?
The SUCCESS II Convening is scheduled to take place at Rice University in Houston, Texas on March 29-30, 2024. As a planning committee, we would like to provide some context and answer questions some may have as to why we chose Texas for this second convening.
The Presidents Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, TheDream.US, and Immigrants Rising are deeply committed to equity and building institutional practices that ensure access to higher education to everyone, regardless of immigration status, race, ethnicity, or gender. We believe Texas is an important state for our Convening and wanted to share some of the reasons why:
- Texas has the second-largest population of undocumented students in the country. As a result, there are many committed individuals and institutions in Texas working tirelessly to increase access and success for immigrant students, as well as first-generation, low-income students. It is important to elevate and strengthen their efforts and advance policies that will facilitate the academic achievement of vulnerable student populations.
- Texas was the first state to adopt tuition equity policies in 2001, providing an important inspiration for 23 other states, plus the District of Columbia to follow. However, the recent UNT court case and state legislative efforts underscore the vulnerability of tuition equity and more in Texas. Our goal is to accelerate educational achievement, build a national network, and commit to educational equity, especially in states where these rights are at risk.
We understand that some institutions may be unable to use state funding to attend the 2024 Convening because of the location. We will provide more information on how we may be able to support the latter with their travel cost and share learnings from the conference with all interested participants.
