Monaghan Supports Illegal Alien
Mon, Jul30, 2007 - Category: University
Ave Maria University's conservative base-of-support
may dwindle further.
Yesterday, a south Florida newspaper reported that one of two full scholarships given by AMU went to a "undocumented student" (illegal alien), Ofelia Perez. For almost two weeks now, AMU and AMU's PR agency have declined comment to all media outlets on this issue.
The student's family came into the country from Guatemala approximately 15 years ago.
Ms. Perez was quoted as saying:
"I've been living here practically all my life. It's not fair to have to pay out-of-state tuition," Perez said. Perez, who doesn’t have a visa, moved from West Palm Beach to Immokalee at the start of her sophomore year in high school.
It must be the case that AMU accepts admissions applications without Social Security numbers. In the student's class of 278 at Immokalee High School, neither the valedictorian nor salutatorian were awarded a scholarship as large as Perez's.
Ms. Perez also received money from the Knights of Columbus. The K-of-C was unaware of her illegal status at the time that their award was given. The local K-of-C Grand Knight has since said, "It would not be fair that a child who is a U.S. citizen would be passed over for one who is not.."
Note: The purpose of this post is not to put forward an AveWatch position on scholarships and legal status. Illegal alien status and benefits are a hot-button issue for conservatives. The point here is to simply say that many conservatives will find Tom Monaghan's support for illegal aliens disconcerting; his base is already divided, and shrinking, among conservative Catholics. This may also cost him support in south Florida where feelings about benefits to aliens run strong in Republican districts. It is ironic that Monaghan will likely be lauded by worker's rights groups for this scholarship. Yet, Monaghan's treatment of his own workers is at the heart of the many controversies surrounding his iron-fisted governance. Ms. Perez may be in for a shock at AMU.
"I think that the (Church) hierarchy doesn't know as much about those things as they do about their theology."
-- Tom Monaghan on blocking unionization of faculty, Wall Street Journal, 2006
"AMU does not behave like a Catholic employer. Justice issues are systematically neglected in the employer-worker relationship."
-- Guillermo Montez, AMU Chairman of Economics, 2005
Yesterday, a south Florida newspaper reported that one of two full scholarships given by AMU went to a "undocumented student" (illegal alien), Ofelia Perez. For almost two weeks now, AMU and AMU's PR agency have declined comment to all media outlets on this issue.
The student's family came into the country from Guatemala approximately 15 years ago.
Ms. Perez was quoted as saying:
"I've been living here practically all my life. It's not fair to have to pay out-of-state tuition," Perez said. Perez, who doesn’t have a visa, moved from West Palm Beach to Immokalee at the start of her sophomore year in high school.
It must be the case that AMU accepts admissions applications without Social Security numbers. In the student's class of 278 at Immokalee High School, neither the valedictorian nor salutatorian were awarded a scholarship as large as Perez's.
Ms. Perez also received money from the Knights of Columbus. The K-of-C was unaware of her illegal status at the time that their award was given. The local K-of-C Grand Knight has since said, "It would not be fair that a child who is a U.S. citizen would be passed over for one who is not.."
Note: The purpose of this post is not to put forward an AveWatch position on scholarships and legal status. Illegal alien status and benefits are a hot-button issue for conservatives. The point here is to simply say that many conservatives will find Tom Monaghan's support for illegal aliens disconcerting; his base is already divided, and shrinking, among conservative Catholics. This may also cost him support in south Florida where feelings about benefits to aliens run strong in Republican districts. It is ironic that Monaghan will likely be lauded by worker's rights groups for this scholarship. Yet, Monaghan's treatment of his own workers is at the heart of the many controversies surrounding his iron-fisted governance. Ms. Perez may be in for a shock at AMU.
"I think that the (Church) hierarchy doesn't know as much about those things as they do about their theology."
-- Tom Monaghan on blocking unionization of faculty, Wall Street Journal, 2006
"AMU does not behave like a Catholic employer. Justice issues are systematically neglected in the employer-worker relationship."
-- Guillermo Montez, AMU Chairman of Economics, 2005