Mission

Freedom University is an award-winning human rights organization and modern-day freedom school for undocumented students banned from equal access to higher education in Georgia. Freedom University first opened in Athens, Georgia in 2011, and re-opened in Atlanta in 2014 under new leadership with a new human rights mission, organizational structure, and social movement strategy. Freedom University now provides tuition-free college preparation classes, college and scholarship application assistance, mental health and legal support, and social movement leadership development for undocumented students. As a result of our collective work, over the last four academic years, 50 percent of our students have earned full scholarships to college.

Our mission is to educate and empower undocumented students and fulfill their human right to education.

Our goal is to end modern segregation in higher education. We believe the purpose of teaching and learning is to participate in the positive transformation of the world, and we work to build a world where undocumented and documented students can learn in the same classrooms and all people have equal access to a quality higher education.

We believe that all human beings – regardless of race, ethnicity, class, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or citizenship status – have a right to education. We uphold Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that everyone has the right to education and that higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

We believe that human rights are universal, inalienable, and interdependent. Regardless of where people are born or what borders they may cross, human beings have rights by virtue of their humanity that can never be taken away. Because human rights are interdependent, we believe that our movements for human dignity are interdependent as well. As such, Freedom University partners with human rights organizations working to advance racial justice, gender equality, workers’ rights, indigenous rights, and freedom in all its forms.

We believe that radical, democratic change in education occurs through grassroots mobilization of teachers and students and the empowerment of those most directly impacted by injustice. We believe that movements are most effective when waged with diverse allies working in a spirit of solidarity, rather than charity. We recognize that effective mobilization requires the cognitive liberation of undocumented youth, and their ability to understand systemic injustice, assert their human rights, and believe that change is possible through collective action. This consciousness development is key to our liberatory education model, and is developed alongside opportunities for commitment and direct action. The systems we seek to change include systemic racism, xenophobia, and global apartheid, which work together to justify the economic exploitation and political exclusion of migrants in the United States, and around the world. Our theory of change is symbolized most powerfully in the image of the monarch butterfly, which not only represents transformation and change, but also the natural resilience and beauty of creatures that migrate across the U.S./Mexico border to survive.

Georgia is recognized globally as a historic epicenter in the struggle for human rights. Georgia is home to two Nobel Peace Prize Laureates - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Jimmy Carter - and the cradle of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. In this tradition, Freedom University works actively with students, educators, supporters, policy makers, and other social justice stakeholders to advance the rights of undocumented youth in Georgia and across the country. Our strategy is multidimensional, participatory, and highly disciplined. Our strategy involves:

01. Creative non-violent civil disobedience that highlights modern segregation and pressures the Georgia Board of Regents to repeal Policies 4.1.6 and 4.3.4

02. Campaigns to secure fair admissions and sanctuary policies at private universities across the country

03. Legal action at the federal level that seeks remedy for violations of undocumented students’ right to equal protection under the law

04. International human rights advocacy that involves coordination with international legal mechanisms and the United Nations system

Through strategic direct actions, policy campaigns, and local, national, and international partnerships, we are changing college admissions policies and transforming the public debate on immigrant justice and undocumented student access to higher education.