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Financial aid applications are important—but so are free tamales.
Students gathered in the Dream Resource Center (DRC) this Wednesday to eat tamales and receive help with financial aid matters during the California Dream Act Tamales & Treats event. Coffee, tea, baked sweets, keychains and socks were also available to attendees.
Dream Resource Center Lead D’arcy Corwin said the event was organized to help students complete their California Dream Act applications. Undocumented students who are AB 540 eligible can fill out the application, explained Corwin.
Representatives from Financial Aid and CARECEN College Legal Services were also present to assist students.
“Not only do we want them to complete the application, maximize their financial aid benefits and get the money that they need to be successful in school, but we also wanted them to learn about other resources,” Corwin said.
A student attending a California Community College for the 2024-2025 academic year should apply for financial aid by May 2 and no later than Sept. 3, 2024, according to the California Student Aid Commission.
Cindy Cardenas, from the Financial Aid office, was on-hand to help students with applications.
“Any assistance that we can provide to students to help with their questions or with financial aid applications will help the students and alleviate any issues that they may have in their own process,” Cardenas said.
Biology major Bryan Perez-Bado highlighted the importance of having a space dedicated to undocumented students.
“I feel like you could find resources for students to have access to anything they might need for undocumented students online, or even through other resources or other campuses, but just having the space for students to know that they can be felt, seen, represented—I think that’s really important,” Perez-Bado said.
Corwin mentioned the support group and club on campus for undocumented students and allies, Undocu-Brahmas.
“We also want our undocumented students to know that they have a club where they can build community, build friends, engage and have a safe place to just get together and enjoy school,” Corwin said.
Icy Smith contributed to this story.
