Texas State has been added to a list of signatories on a congressional letter after a social media post accused University President Denise Trauth of not signing the document.
The College Democrats chapter at Texas State took to Twitter Oct. 10 to reveal Trauth did not sign a Sept. 16 congressional letter drafted by the American Council on Education. The letter urged for bipartisan measures regarding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, recipients.
Several hours later, Trauth replied to the tweet claiming the university had signed the letter and Texas State was on the list of signatories.
 
Texas State College Democrats President Trevor Newman said the letter first came to his attention through a professor in the Latino studies department who was working on an online university DACA report.
“A professor let us know the university had not signed on to this DACA letter calling for bipartisan support of DACA recipients,” Newman said. “So when the professor let us know about that, we decided to take action and to call for Dr. Trauth to sign onto (the) letter.”
The letter—with the exception of Texas State—was first posted on social media at 10:28 a.m. By late afternoon the same day, Trauth issued a reply to the initial message and College Democrats posted a correction on Twitter.
According to Jonathan Riskind, assistant vice president of public affairs for ACE, an incorrect email address in the system prevented Trauth from receiving the letter when it was initially sent out in September.
“Whenever you are seeking sign-on from hundreds of schools, there are inevitably emails going astray for various reasons and sign-ons that don’t happen on time,” Riskind stated in an email. “Since the letter was first released, there have been a number of colleges and universities that have added their names, something like two dozen. We are very pleased Texas State has signed and (are) appreciative of the support Texas State is providing for those in DACA.”
Trauth said she signed the document after reaching out to ACE upon realization she had not received the 2019 letter. Additionally, Trauth has signed the 2017 and 2018 ACE letters.
“I reached out to ACE and asked them what had happened here,” Trauth said. “It is an important letter because it gives me the opportunity—which I’ve said many times—to highly value our DACA students at Texas State. DACA students across the country are very successful students; they seek employment and they find employment. They are a very important part of the citizenship. Signing this letter gives me the opportunity to reiterate that.”
Given the limbo state of the DACA program, Trauth appointed a task force earlier in fall 2019 chaired by Jaime Chahin, dean of the College of Applied Arts. The force member’s three main goals include identifying and documenting current resources and support services for DACA students, developing a comprehensive list of initiatives to strengthen the university’s immigration reforms and engaging the community in conversations about immigration issues.
A report of the task force’s findings with recommendations is expected in two-to-three weeks.