An organization that supports undocumented immigrant students and one that works to foster a better understanding of Israeli-Palestinian relations have won the first UC President's Award for Outstanding Student Leadership.

IDEAS at UCLA is being recognized for its leadership role in providing support and advocacy for undocumented immigrant students.

The Olive Tree Initiative at UC Irvine won for its effort to promote dialogue and organize educational trips to the Middle East, and for spawning OTI chapters at UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz.

The President's Award recognizes students and campus-based organizations for enhancing multicampus collaboration, addressing issues systemwide and advancing the University of California's mission of teaching, research and public service.

"Both groups are doing extraordinary work on their campuses and in their communities," UC President Mark Yudof said while presenting the award at the May 19 meeting of the UC Board of Regents. "Their efforts are in the very best tradition of activism, public service and open dialogue that have always been the hallmarks of the university and its students."

The two groups will each receive $2,000 to be used to advance the goals of their organizations, and their names will be inscribed on a plaque that will rotate annually to each award winner's campus.

Nominations for the award were solicited from chancellors and University of California Student Association chapters at each UC campus. A selection committee comprised of UC Office of the President Student Affairs and External Relations staff screened 12 nominations from eight campuses and selected two finalists: IDEAS at UCLA and the Olive Tree Initiative at UC Irvine.

Yudof was so impressed by the accomplishments of both groups that he decided to give two awards.

"There were quite a few fabulous submissions received and it made for a very difficult choice," Yudof said.

UCLA students work for access

Photo: Tyler Bergholz

UC Regents Chairman Russell Gould (left) and UC President Mark Yudof present award to IDEAS co-chairs Eder Gaona and Lizeth Flores, along with UCLA Chancellor Gene Block.

IDEAS — Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success — was the first student organization created to support undocumented students at any UC campus. Since its founding in 2003, it has taken a leadership role at UCLA and the Los Angeles area in working to help undocumented students succeed in higher education.

The celebration of the award was tempered by news that two of the co-founders of IDEAS were killed in a car accident over the weekend. Cinthya Felix Perez, 26, and Tam Tran, 27, died on May 15 in Trenton, Maine, when the car in which they were passengers collided with a pickup truck traveling in the opposite direction.

"This honor comes at a very sad moment," said Lizeth Flores, co-chair of IDEAS, in accepting the award. She pledged to keep the movement to support undocumented students moving forward.

Felix Perez was the first undocumented student in a doctoral program in public health at Columbia University and Tam was pursuing a doctorate in American civilization at Brown University.

"The ongoing work of IDEAS, we believe, stands as a lifelong tribute to the dreams of these young women," Yudof said.

Assembly Bill 540, passed in 2001, allows students who attend a California high school for three or more years and graduate or receive a general equivalency diploma to pay in-state fees at state colleges. However, undocumented immigrants who qualify under AB 540 remain ineligible for federal, state or institutional financial aid and many scholarships. IDEAS reaches out to inform parents, high schools and other colleges in the greater Los Angeles community about the academic and financial resources available for undocumented immigrants.

"For our work to be recognized at such a high level and to have it come from the UC president is very symbolic," Flores said in an interview last week.

In 2006, the group established the IDEAS Making the Dream a Reality Scholarship for UCLA students who are undocumented. IDEAS has raised $200,000 to fund scholarships since 2003, Flores said. IDEAS holds an annual Immigrant Youth Empowerment Conference and also supports passage of the federal DREAM Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented students.

"On campus, we have created a very safe space for undocumented students," IDEAS co-chair Eder Gaona said last week. He estimated that there are 300 undocumented students at UCLA.

UC Irvine group fosters dialogue

Photo: Tyler Bergholz

President Yudof presents award to Olive Tree Initiative organizers Oren Klein and Aran Aghapour, along with UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake.

The Olive Tree Initiative was created in 2007 as a way to forge constructive and respectful discussion about Israel and Palestine.

Winning the President's Award "really creates even more motivation and ambition to grow and go further," said Olive Tree organizer Aran Aghapour in an interview last week.

The idea for a trip to the Middle East was sparked in May 2007 by President Jimmy Carter, who came to UC Irvine to talk about his book about Israel and the Palestinian conflict. He suggested to students who disagreed about the issue to go see the situation first-hand.

Students began organizing a trip, and in September 2008, 15 students from Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Druze and other backgrounds traveled to Israel and Palestine. A second group of students traveled to the region in September 2009. The students came away with a greater understanding of the complexities in Israeli-Palestinian issues.

Back home, the group holds community forums to further the dialogue and has inspired the creation of a new undergraduate certificate program in conflict analysis and resolution at UC Irvine.

"It's given me a chance to be friends with and communicate with people who I might otherwise have had more antagonistic views," said Oren Klein, an organizer for Olive Tree, said of the group last week. "It really brings out the humanity in people who can disagree so strongly about different issues, but can still come together."

Harry Mok is principal editor in the UC Office of the President's Integrated Communications group. For more information, visit the UC Newsroom or follow us on Twitter.