A woman, who served as Treasurer of the United States under President Ronald Reagan, will speak at Virginia Tech tonight on the topic of illegal immigration. A flyer promoting the event has sparked controversy over the language it uses.
Bay Buchanan was the youngest ever treasurer of the United States, at 32 serving from 1981 to 1983. Fliers have gone up on the campus of Virginia Tech promoting her talk. The flyers caught the eye of several students, including Juan De La Rosa Diaz, a freshman studying political science and Spanish.
“I think the most disturbing part of the flier was at the top in bold it said, ‘Alien Invasion’ and the subtitle said, ‘How Illegal Immigration is Harming America.. or something along those lines.”
De La Rosa Diaz founded an organization called Tech Dreamers, which advocates for undocumented students enrolled under Virginia’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals known DACA.
"I think it’s important to talk about this issue on campus and I think it’s great that we have an opportunity to have it but I think the approach that the flier took was very out there and I found it very offensive."
Young Americans for Freedom at Virginia Tech is co sponsoring tonight’s talk. Junior Lauren McCue founded the group this year.
“I understand that there is some concern about the flier but one of the tactics that young Americans for freedom follows is Ronald Reagan’s bold message of campus activism so, when we designed the flier we wanted to do something that would catch people’s eye who might not have been able to come or might not have wanted to come.”
And it seems to have worked. De La Rosa says he plans to go to the event, not to protest but to engage in dialogue on the topic of what some call illegal immigration and others see as part of the American dream. A Q &A is part of tonight’s program, which is also being sponsored by Young Americans Foundation and the Clair Booth Luce Policy Institute.
The event begins at 7 p.m in Pamplin Hall on the Virginia Tech Campus.
