San Francisco State University threw a special graduation party for the illegal immigrants in its 2015 graduating class.
According to the Golden Gate Express, the party, dubbed “Beyond Borders Graduation,” was hosted by the Improving Dreams, Equity, Access, and Success (IDEAS) student group and celebrated the achievements of 25 illegal immigrant graduates.
Fellow illegal immigrant and activist, Jose Antonio Vargas, was the keynote speaker at the Beyond Borders Graduation.
“When we talk about DREAMers, we forget about the ones that didn’t even make it. I’m talking about our older brothers and our older sisters. I’m talking about the older cousins and the older friends that decided, you know, that it’s too hard. It was too hard. And I hope that you’re thinking about them today and that you’re holding them in your heart. And I hope that you know how much you are loved and how much sacrifice went to having you here and that no piece of paper, no piece of paper, not even that diploma, can stop you from being your fullest possible self,” Vargas said during his speech.
Despite SFSU being a public university and IDEAS being an official student organization, the party did not use any public funds, a university spokesman told the Golden Gate Express.
On Facebook, IDEAS sold t-shirts for $15 that read “Undocumented & Unafraid” and “Education is a Human Right” in order to raise the funds needed for the party.
