Common Application statement on undoc students a hoax

By Jonathan Munoz, Voxxi

The Common Application, Inc., more commonly referred to as the Common App, used by 488-plus colleges and universities for undergraduate admissions services, was the ‘victim’ of a hoax on Tuesday as they were forced to deny news that the organization would allow undocumented students the option of checking their own box at the time of applying.

Undocumented activist David Ramirez and other supporters of undocumented students — anonymous U.S. citizens who work to support the undocumented community — took credit for the hoax, initially carried out last Thursday, May 30, at a major higher education conference in New Orleans.

“It all stems from a real place — no tengo papeles — and our community is under attack. I’m contributing to the immigrant rights struggle in the U.S.,” said David Ramirez on his decision to impersonate ‘Daniel J. Vargas,’ the communication director of the Common Application. ‘Vargas’ is a fictional character used by the activists to fool organizers of the National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE) into allowing 23-year-old Ramirez to take the stage and announce that the Common Application was apologizing to undocumented students for years of discrimination.

An activist who claimed credit for the hoax said Ramirez and others staged the performance to call attention to barriers undocumented students face in education. Activists said they will release more information on Wednesday according, to a press release obtained by VOXXI.

As it stands, the Common App requires undocumented applicants to undergo a process where they must disclose to colleges and universities their foreign citizenship, country of birth, and lack of a social security number — a process that often results in colleges and universities classifying undocumented applicants as international students. Undocumented student activists have decried this practice as a ‘misclassification’ and ‘discriminatory’ practice.

On Thursday, David Ramirez took to the stage and presented changes to the Common Application as an official announcement from the vaunted 35-year-old organization that would now take into consideration the status of undocumented students. The news was quickly greeted by enthusiastic support from conference attendees and the public after media outlets, fooled by a fake press release, reported the news on Monday.

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, along with many other high profile players in existing bipartisan immigration reform negotiations, praised the fabricated news as a step forward.

Common Application sets the record straight

Late Tuesday the Common Application was forced to reply. Rob Killion, Executive Director of the Common Application, stated: “There is nothing [new to share] about the way the Common App has approached undocumented students,” and explained that undocumented students continue to be excluded from the organization’s non-discrimination clause.

Common Application Director of Outreach Scott Anderson confirmed to Colorlines that no changes have been made to their widely-used college application. “The Common Application has not made any announcement regarding undocumented students,” said Anderson.

Anderson also confirmed that despite the splashy announcement, “There is no one named Daniel Vargas on our staff or Board of Directors.”

The announcement, if true, would have effectively forced the Common App’s member institutions — including Ivy League institutions such as Harvard and Yale — to recognize undocumented students as a unique applicant from the United States.

Immigration journalists decried the tactic as foolhardy and were met by fierce criticism by undocumented activists. Ramirez and undocumented students at Freedom University have extended an invitation to Rob Killion to meet with them at Freedom University, a volunteer-run project offering free college-level classes to undocumented students.

This article was first published in Voxxi.