Office of Immigration Services I Stand with Immigrants — Event Series

Join us each fall for a series of events that explore immigrant student experiences and stand in support of your immigrant community members, past present and future. 

Public-facing event details are listed here.  To express interest in participating in related events which are specifically catered to and center students who are undocumented, DACAmented, and/or in otherwise fragile immigration statuses, please email Hanna Bliss, director of Immigration Services (jbliss@amherst.edu) and/or Jane Kungu, assistant director of the Multicultural Resource Center (jkungu@amherst.edu). 

The I Stand With Immigrants Initiative, powered by the FWD.us Education Fund, Inc., leads narrative campaigns that empower immigrants and allies to share their stories and drive action that demonstrate how immigration is good for our communities, economy, and country. We do this with the goal of encouraging everyone to explore their individual heritage and celebrate both our distinct and shared experiences.  For more information on the nationwide initiative, visit  I Stand with Immigrants.

I Stand with Immigrants events at Amherst College are coordinated by the Office of Immigration Services, the Multicultural Resource Center,  the Center for International Student Engagement, AAS Dreamer Committee, and @undocuamherst.

• Wednesday, October 18, 2023 at 6:30pm
• Friedmann Room, Keefe Campus Center
• Amherst College's I STAND WITH IMMIGRANTS series is kicking off with a panel discussion featuring Alelí Andrés '18E, Manuel Rodriguez 21', Irma Zamora '17, and Professor Leah Schmalzbauer (American Studies and Sociology), moderated by Professor Paul Schroeder Rodriguez (Spanish and LLAS). On the heels of Professor Schmalzbauer's newly published Meanings of Mobility: Family, Education, and Immigration in the Lives of Latino Youth, this conversation with Amherst faculty and alumni will explore global, national, and Amherst-specific personal experience trends of immigration and educational mobility, the role of family in youths' aspirations and experiences of education, immigration status and its impact on mobility, and how place shapes pathways to educational mobility.
• 10 copies of Meanings of Mobility: Family, Education, and Immigration in the Lives of Latino Youth will be raffled off (free) to audience members!
• Speakers:
  • Alelí Andrés 18E (she/her/ella) is a first-generation Sociology PhD student at the University of California, San Diego. Her current research agenda expands upon her undergraduate research, focusing on the mobility paths and experiences of college students from mixed-status families. She has also conducted research at the US-Mexico border examining the intersections of gender, family, and im(migration). As a public sociologist, Alelí advocates for students from immigrant families and the necessary institutional and policy changes to support their well-being and academic success. 
  • Irma J. Zamora Fuerte ’17 (she/hers/ella) hails from Southern California. She is a first-generation Latina PhD Candidate in the Department of English at the Ohio State University. Her main research and academic interests include: Latinx studies; the representation of immigrant stories in the national sociopolitical narrative; and representations of Latinidad in different media. Outside of academia, she enjoys catching up on all the rave shows and films, hiking at national parks, and chilling with her young doggo, Frida.
  • Manuel Rodriguez (he/him/his) is a member of Amherst College’s Class of 2021. At Amherst, Manuel was a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow, Diversity Outreach Intern, a Summer Bridge Residential Tutor, a member of La Causa, and played in both the Amherst College orchestra and jazz ensemble. Manuel majored in Latinx and Latin American Studies and wrote an honors thesis titled “Understanding my Religion and Culture: Religion and Ethnicity Among Mexican-American College Students.” Manuel is now a third-year PhD graduate student at the University of Notre Dame’s sociology department, studying the intersections of religion, immigration, politics, and race. He recently defended his master’s thesis, “The Importance of Faith: Religion and Latinx Americans’ Attitudes Toward Immigration Policy,” and was awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship by the National Science Foundation.
  • Leah Schmalzbauer (she/her)  is the Karen and Brian Conway ’80, P’18 Presidential Teaching Professor of Sociology and American Studies at Amherst College, and the Chair of American Studies. She had the honor and joy of working closely with Irma Zamora, Manuel Rodriguez and Aleli Andres while they were students at Amherst, and has co- published with Manuel and Aleli. Leah teaches classes on immigration, rural America, childhood and inequality.
  • Paul Schroeder Rodríguez is the R. John Cooper ’64 Presidential Teaching Professor of Spanish and served as thesis advisor for Irma Zamora when she was a senior at Amherst College.  His primary area of research is Latin American cinema, and he teaches courses on Latinx and Latin American literatures and cultures.

• Wednesday, November 1, 2023; 11am-1pm
• Keefe Campus Center Atrium
• Join the Office of Immigration Services, Multicultural Resource Center, and Center for International Student Engagement for I STAND WITH IMMIGRANTS Day of Action, a nation-wide initiative to share stories and drive action that demonstrates immigration is good for our communities.  Participate in a photo campaign by sharing why you stand with immigrants and why supporting immigrants' rights is important to you.   In the wake of a recent and unfortunate DACA court update, don't miss this chance to express your solidarity with the  immigrants in your community!
• Free shirts, stickers, posters, and buttons will be available until supplies run out.