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Monday’s pouring rain was no obstacle for more than 60 University of Wisconsin students protesting in support of a pharmacy student arrested last week and facing deportation to Nigeria.
The students gathered in Memorial Union around 12:30 p.m. to draw posters and strategize in efforts to keep Tope Awe in the United States at least until her expected graduation day in May 2009.
According to her father, Sam Awe, the pharmacy student and her brother were “unexpectedly” taken to Dodge County Jail Thursday after an interview with U.S. Homeland and Security that her family hoped would serve to regularize their residency in the country. Cause of arrest is still unclear, Sam Awe added.
Awe, 22, has lived in the U.S. since she was 3 years old when her father, Sam Awe, needed to return to America for medical reasons. Sam Awe completed undergraduate studies in California and received a Ph.D. from UW.
Sam Awe later returned to the country to have a kidney transplant and has been in the country with his family since 1989, he said, because his doctors asked him not to leave the U.S. The Awe family has a B1-B2 Visa, which allows them to stay in the country on a temporary condition until Sam Awe’s health is stable enough for him to return to Nigeria.
The crowd marched to the office of U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, through the Capitol, and dozens of visitors and workers in the building stopped to listen as the students’ “Free Tope” chants reverberated in the rotunda.
Jerilyn Goodman, Baldwin’s press secretary, said the congresswoman’s office had not been contacted yet but would be “happy to explore whatever options” to help Awe.
“Obviously this story is getting a lot of attention, but in order for us to take any action, we need to be contacted first,” Goodman added.
UW senior Nalubega Mukasa, who met with Baldwin’s staff, said the group was advised to provide Tope Awe with a Privacy Act release so they can have access to her immigration documents and be able to see where the case stands. Mukasa added a fund has been created to pay for a lawyer and try to arrange a hearing for Awe.
The protest was organized by several UW student organizations, including the African Student Association, Black Student Union, International Socialist Organization, Multicultural Student Coalition, College Democrats and the Campus Antiwar Network.
Awe’s cause has also received support from the UW School of Pharmacy and Dean of Students Lori Berquam.
“We are grateful for today’s outpouring of support on behalf of Tope and her situation,” said Jeanette Roberts, dean of the UW School of Pharmacy. “It’s critical for both she and her family to be aware that her friends on the UW-Madison campus are advocating for her to be allowed to continue her studies.”
Roberts has been in contact with the Awe family and earlier said Tope Awe seems to be in good physical and mental health.
According to friends and UW staff, Tope Awe is heavily involved in leadership positions, working as a Multicultural Resident Consultant in Chadbourne Residential College.
She is also founder and co-chair of the African Student Association, co-president of the Multicultural Affair Program in Pharmacy and is involved in promoting diversity and a positive climate for students of color at UW, her friends said.
Tope Awe’s friends have been collecting signatures and created a Facebook group this weekend in efforts to show authorities her “importance and impact” on the UW community.
According to Mukasa, the supporters have collected more than 1,700 signatures and letters, though she added the number was not updated for today’s additions. More than 1,600 people had joined the Facebook group as of late Monday evening.
