Participants/Alumni

“What lies on the border is a complicated world filled with questions, some answers, privilege, history and a future that is yet to be determined. What do I understand to be my experience on the Border? Well, it’s not over yet.” ~ Program Participant

“A year in the borderlands has challenged me to think more deeply about myself: my identity, my priorities, my place in the movement; and about the world around me: not only immigration policies but also how they connect to our local, national and international relations, the relationship between humans and the planet we live on, the social and economic structure of our communities and our world.  And it has helped me find the strength to speak these truths and challenge unjust structures wherever I may go.”~ Program Participant and now Tucson community member

Current participants

The Border Studies Program’s Fall 2022 semester is comprised of students from 2 different colleges: Earlham College and Oberlin College and Conservatory.  Majors include Comparative American Studies and Peace and Global Studies, with minors in Economics and Spanish.

Alumni

This program has been attended as far back as Fall of 1997 and is currently active every year in both Spring and Fall semesters.  Many Border Studies alums have gone on to work in social justice fields, and several have even decided to settle in Tucson after graduation.  Below are a few of the positions held by Border Studies alums when we checked in with them several years after they attended Border Studies:

• Program Manager for the Southern Arizona Gender Alliance in Tucson
• Guide at Tucson Ingenuity Academy
• EMT for the Arivaca Fire Department
• Assistant Teacher in Spanish at Kenyon College
• Legal Assistant at Equal Employment Opportunity
• Regional Organizing Director of the Democratic Party
• Paralegal for Kids In Need of Defense in NYC

We are immensely proud of the work that the Border Studies alums have done to better the lives of the people in their communities.