On Tuesday, October 15th, the Diversity Center hosted their annual ‘I Stand with Immigrants’ event. This year, the office collaborated with the Springfield Immigrant Advocacy Network (SIAN) to host an event centered on storytelling and the immigrant experience.
Daniel Aguilar, Program Coordinator of Hispanic/LatinX Outreach stated that the purpose of hosting I Stand with Immigrants at UIS was to create a day of awareness for UIS, dispel myths and false narratives and give a better sense of community. Aguilar also discussed resources UIS has, such as an undocumented liaison, which is a university employee in higher education who serves as a resource for undocumented students and students from mixed status families. Aguilar serves as the undocumented liaison at UIS.
The activity of the event focused on storytelling and immigrant voices. Each table contained a mix of students, faculty, staff, SIAN volunteers, and at least one first or second-generation immigrant.
A first generations immigrants are people who have immigrated to the United States themselves. Second generation immigrant refers to a person who was born in the United States, but who’s parent or guardian immigrated.
UIS student Nana Rubio says the stories told were “very intentional in the day’s conversations.” To display this intentionality, it was emphasized that the event was not about objectifying the human telling their story, rather it was about listening to the experiences shared.
Before the actual storytelling began, the group agreed to a set of norms that respected each person’s confidentiality and story.
After agreeing to a set of norms and understanding the intention of the night, each table was given at set of prompts. These touched on a variety of topics, such as the experience of leaving their home country, the conditions of the journey, what kinds of support systems were available and the memories or friendships that were created during the process. The event ended with a round of applause for the storytellers, as well as a group photo.
I Stand with Immigrants is part of a larger initiative that includes I Am an Immigrant. The initiative is powered by the FWD.us Education Fund, and it “leads narrative campaigns that empower immigrants and allies to share their stories and drive action that demonstrate how immigration is good for our communities, economy and country.”
The goal of the initiative is to encourage everyone to explore their heritage and celebrate unique and shared experiences.
