When Jenny Park (COL ’24), reflected on her experience at Georgetown, she realized the key to fostering solidarity for the undocumented community was student action.

“Oftentimes, I have found that at Georgetown, it is up to the students to create safe spaces for each other to feel heard and seen,” Park wrote to The Hoya.

Following this sentiment, Park — programming director of the student-run organization Hoyas for Immigrant Rights (HFIR) — worked alongside her fellow HFIR leaders to organize UndocuWeek, a week of programming April 18 to 22 dedicated to raising awareness for the challenges undocumented students face at Georgetown and beyond. 

HFIR logistics director Katherine Hawes (SFS ’25) said a primary focus of UndocuWeek was to recognize the challenges undocuments students face and connect undocuments students to resources through programming including community building events, dedicated conversation spaces and workshops.

“We wanted to bring attention to obstacles that still exist for undocumented students in our community, as well as to highlight resources available to undocumented students,” Hawes wrote in an email to The Hoya. “We also examined the barriers faced by undocumented students at Georgetown.”

Community events included a film screening, an arts and crafts session at the La Casa Latina Center for Multicultural Equity Access in which participants made butterflies as a sign of support for the undocumented community, and a Tea Talk with the GU Vietnamese Student Association (GUVSA).

Ashley Nguyen (NHS ’24), a member of GUVSA, said this event allowed students to collectively share their experiences with immigrant identity.

“Immigrants and children of immigrants experience certain stigmas, expectations, and adversities that have not been recognized and empathized within a PWI like Georgetown,” Nguyen wrote to The Hoya. “Finding people who resonate with these experiences and being in a casual environment where vulnerability is appreciated and allowed brings about social awareness, camaraderie and the normalization of the discussion of such topics.”

Mikhail Floresca (NHS ’24), co-President of HFIR, was encouraged by the engagement he saw from across the Georgetown community.

“A highlight for us was definitely the support and compassion other students showed for our cause,” Floresca wrote in an email to The Hoya. “We had really genuine contributions to each event, some of which made us proud to be a part of Georgetown’s community of acceptance and care.”

Besides creating spaces for internal dialogue, some programming aimed to raise awareness about campus resources for undocumented students. 

Jennifer Crewalk, associate director for undocumented student services within the Center for Multicultural Equity and Access (CMEA), organized a Know Your Rights training session and compiled a list of campus resources, while Juan Belman Guerrero from the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor gave advice on applying to graduate school as an undocumented student. 

Floresca said resources like the HOYA Clinic, Cawley Career Education Center, and the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service are available for undocumented students, but many students refrain from taking advantage of them for fear of revealing that their documentation status.

“Exposing yourself as an undocumented students is as worrisome as it is dangerous,” Floresca wrote. “We want students to be open to reach out and engage with the plethora of resources available on campus.”

Georgetown hopes to break down the barriers undocumented students face when accessing institutions of higher education, according to a university spokesperson. 

“As a Catholic and Jesuit institution, Georgetown University values the dignity of all members of the university community, regardless of immigration status,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “We are a university in the heart of the nation’s capital and believe in educating the whole person through exposure to different faiths, cultures and beliefs.”

Nguyen said the discussion events helped her reflect on her own identity as an immigrant. 

“It’s especially important to have a space where people feel comfortable talking about their experiences as an immigrant,” Nguyen said. “I think some of the best highlights of that event were moments where I realized how having an immigrant-tied identity intersected with so many other aspects of our lives, especially our relationships with others.”