Updated 9/5/17, 1 p.m.:

In light of the announcement this morning by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to rescind the DACA program, we have contacted Colorado’s Congressional delegation to urge them to take action to allow students in the program to continue to study and work at the University of Colorado and at universities around the country. Additionally, President Benson is making calls to each member to provide additional perspective. We have offered our assistance to Congress as they address the issue. We will also lend our voices to the national educational organizations calling on Congress to act. As we articulated in our communication on Saturday, DACA students are valued and important members of the CU community. They enrich our university, inspire us with their commitment to their education and to their futures, and enhance the diversity that makes CU strong. Ours is the only country many of them have ever known. We are committed to providing the resources necessary to support them in every way possible. We will continue to stand with our students and work to ensure they can pursue the education that will benefit them and our country and engage in a process to allow them to remain in our country.

Dear University of Colorado Students, Faculty, and Staff:

For years, the University of Colorado has welcomed DACA recipients to our campuses. DACA students enrich our community, inspire us with their commitment to their education and their futures, and add to the diversity of perspectives that makes colleges and universities in the United States unique. As the leaders of the University of Colorado, we cherish our DACA students and add our voices urging Congress to quickly find a pathway that will allow current and future undocumented students, all of whom have spent years being educated in the United States, to complete their studies without fear for their futures.

We don’t know what changes will occur in the DACA program in the near future, and we will continue to communicate with you as we learn more. But we do know that DACA recipients will remain welcome on University of Colorado campuses, and we will advocate on your behalf. Colorado grants many undocumented students the ability to receive in-state tuition, and we will continue to admit students without regard to their immigration status. We will communicate that we expect undocumented students and workers to be treated with respect and dignity in our classrooms and our campus community. We will not release any student’s information or employee’s information to federal officials or anyone else, as this information is protected by state and federal laws, unless we receive a lawful subpoena or warrant that requires us to do so. We have created programs to provide financial assistance to undocumented students, which we will try to grow, and we plan to employ DACA recipients on our campuses for as long as we are able.

We will engage Colorado’s senators and representatives and offer our support. We will work with national educational organizations that are communicating their concerns for your futures to Congress and the White House. It’s important for you to know where we stand – and our message to the DACA recipients in our community is simple – we stand with you.

Bruce Benson

President, University of Colorado

Philip DiStefano

Chancellor, University of Colorado Boulder

Don Elliman

Chancellor, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Dorothy Horrell

Chancellor, University of Colorado Denver

Venkat Reddy

Chancellor, University of Colorado Colorado Springs