This story has been updated since it was originally published.
Kennesaw State Interim President Ken Harmon released a statement in early May addressing a miscommunication that the university would not be accepting new students without legal status in the U.S. in the fall 2020 semester.
Marcela Cadavid, a KSU enrollment services specialist, made a post on Facebook before the statement was released that garnered attention from the community.
In the post, Cadavid said she received news during a meeting with Harmon on April 19 that the admissions office was considering denying a small number of academically qualified students for the fall 2018 semester.
She also cited the Board of Regents Policy 4.1.6., which states that “a person who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible for admission to any University System institution which, for the two most recent academic years, did not admit all academically qualified applicants.”
Cadavid’s post has been shared more than 40 times and has more than 20 comments as of June 4. Many of the people commenting on the post criticized the policy and KSU.
“What a disgrace! I am a high school counselor at GHS and I am appalled of such decision!” Betsy Escamilla commented.
Cadavid later made an update to her post to remind people that this is a Board of Regents policy. She wrote that those who have an issue with the policy should direct their comments to the BOR and not the university.
Harmon released a statement to the AJC, wherein he said, “Unfortunately, we have miscommunicated regarding USG admissions policy and how KSU’s academic requirements impact fall 2018 admissions.
“We made a mistake in understanding Board policy 4.1.6.,” the statement continues. “As a result, we incorrectly communicated about the admissions process and status for KSU’s fall 2018 freshman class. All academically qualified students will be admitted for fall 2018, as such, the provisions of Board policy 4.1.6 are not applicable for KSU admissions. We apologize for mistakenly suggesting otherwise and for conveying misinformation.”
Several other universities in metro Atlanta have already adopted the BOR policy, including the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech, according to the AJC.
“It does not make sense for universities in Georgia to accept students who are less qualified and deny more qualified students simply because they are undocumented,” she said.
According to the AJC, the BOR adopted this policy in 2010 after Jessica Colotl was arrested on the Kennesaw campus. Colotl, a native of Mexico, was brought to the U.S. when she was 11 years old and was arrested in 2010 while attending KSU for impeding traffic and driving without a license.
After critics found out KSU was charging Colotl an in-state tuition rate, the BOR adopted policy 4.3.4., which reads, “Each University System institution shall verify the lawful presence in the United States of every successfully admitted person applying for resident tuition status.”
