Georgia just lost another young talent to another state.
Needa Veerani arrived in the U.S. at age seven. A year later she moved to Georgia. She attended Brookwood High, where she was a distinguished member of the Math Honors Society and regional science fair participant.
After graduating in 2010 with a 3.97 GPA, Needa attended Georgia Tech and earned a bachelor’s of science degree in biomedical engineering. Needa graduated with high honors, maintained a 3.56 GPA, and was a research assistant in an engineering lab. She made plans to pursue a doctoral degree at Georgia Tech under the supervision of a professor who offered her a position in her chosen program.
Little did she know she would be prevented from pursuing her dreams. Earlier this year, the Georgia Tech admissions office informed her that, because of Board of Regents Policy 4.1.6 - which bans undocumented students from attending selective schools - she couldn’t enroll, despite the fact Needa had been granted “deferred action” by the federal government.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has confirmed that individuals who are granted deferred action, including grantees of the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), are authorized to be present in the United States. Despite this, the Board of Regents refuses to allow DACA grantees admission to selective schools and requires them to pay out-of-state tuition to attend other colleges and universities.
Needa will now have to leave the state she considers home. The Board of Regents policy drove her to search for educational opportunities elsewhere. She just accepted an offer at the University of Oklahoma.
Since the implementation of the Board of Regents’ ban, several gifted students have left for other states. This policy has harmed Georgia by depriving its outstanding higher learning institutions of the vibrancy and contributions of some of its most promising youth.
Georgia stands alone in not allowing young immigrants granted deferred action under DACA admission to selective universities. An increasing number of states are now allowing DACA grantees in-state tuition.
Last week at a rally in front of the State Capitol, Raymond Partolan, president of the Student Government Association at Mercer University who came to the U.S. when he was one, described his state of despair in high school:
“I was at the bottom of a very deep and dark well…I, the salutatorian of our high school, could quite possibly not be able to go to college…I felt I had so much potential but the prospect of college was bleak. That fall I tried to kill myself.”
Raymond survived. Now he is one of the leaders in the student movement for equal access to higher education.
Raymond, Needa and students like them are children of Georgia. They have so much to contribute to our communities. Rather than erect barriers, the state should support these exemplary young people and open the way for them to fulfill their potential.
